Fiancé
by landiddy
Summary: DISCONTINUED: Naruto, while happily living out life in New York, recieves a letter announcing his engagement. He plans to go to Japan, find his finacée and her father to tell them off. He didn't count on a few circumstances though. AU MM
1. Arrival

I strongly advise you to skip ahead to chapter... 2 or 3... I lost a few people because of this riiiiiight here. If you love me, you'll do that and jump ahead... unless you like reading stuff that I write..._

* * *

_

Sitting in seat 1A, a blonde teen sighed to himself in contempt. He looked out of the window to his left and shut it instantly. Being thousands of feet in the air wasn't his idea of a dream trip. He didn't even want to get on that plane to Tokyo. He didn't want to leave his home and friends in New York behind him. He didn't want to meet this other person. But he didn't want to disappoint his parents either.

His parents…

He sighed again as he thought of those two wonderful people. They'd never asked anything of him. They'd never even done anything wrong to him. All they ever did was show him love and help him if he ever needed it. However, they'd died only two years before. The ticket had arrived in his mailbox on the anniversary of their death, and he almost threw it in the trash with everything else that held boohoos and sorries from fake people.

That particular envelope caught his eye before he tossed it into his furnace though. Not only was it black, but the stamp was like nothing he'd ever seen before. It looked like a little red and white fan. The print on the envelope was white to contrast with the background.

He didn't bother to look for a return address, because there wasn't one there. So, he opened it and pulled out the single piece of paper. Folded in the letter was his plane ticket. After scanning the note telling him to get on the plane to Japan, he ran into the kitchen and smashed a few plates.

He was betrothed. Betrothed!! You'd think in America that one could choose who they married. But not him-- his parents promised him out over seas. And, apparently, his fiancée knew about it from the time they'd been born. There was no point in reading the rest of the letter since he was just going to take the plane out to the place and tell off whoever sent him the letter.

Even if his parents didn't want it, Naruto had plans to go back to New York, find a special someone, and adopt a kid. He had no intentions whatsoever to get off of that airline and happily go home with the girl his parents promised him to. As he stepped out of the terminal, he searched the card-holders for his name. He found it and walked over, hands in his pockets since he hadn't bothered to bring any luggage. After all, he wasn't going to stay. To his dismay, however, his chauffer grabbed him by the wrist and whisked Naruto off through the airport.

When he finally knew what was going on again, he was outside in the heat. Naruto quickly pulled off his jacket before it made him sweat out his grey matter. His cornfield hair was already plastered to his head, and his tee shirt was sticking to him. The humidity was too much for him in the foreign country. Although, he couldn't really call it that foreign. He was born there. But he was also shipped to America with his parents as soon as he was.

Shaking his head to dispel the thoughts, he wrapped his jacket around his waist and looked for his driver. He was getting into a limousine. A freaking limo!! Naruto was too excited to remember he was hot, or angry, and hopped in the back of the long automobile. Once he'd settled himself, what was going on got back to him. He crawled his way across the air-conditioned space to rap at the window separating his area from the driver's cabin. It opened.

"Uhm... I know this sounds really dumb, but where am I headed?" He blushed when his driver chuckled.

"Karuizawa, Sir," he said without taking his eyes off the road. He did, however, put his hand on his hat. "You don't mind, do you?"

Naruto shook his head. "It _is_ hot out here."

"It is." The driver pulled it off, and Naruto stared. He could've braided a rope that rivaled Rapunzel's with the long, white hair that tumbled out from under the chauffeurs' cap.

His driver didn't notice the staring. "Once you go abroad, you never get used to the heat again." The driver slouched a bit in his seat and adjusted his mirror so that he could look at his passenger and the road at the same time. "So how old are you now, Kid?"

"Me?" Naruto asked as if someone else was in the limo. The driver nodded regardless. "I'm fifteen now, but my birthday's in October."

"Well, that isn't too bad. A few months can be waited before the wedding."

"...The wedding, right." Naruto shivered a bit when he thought of getting hitched with someone he'd never met before.

"You okay, Kid?" His driver reached over to some sort of compartment and pulled out a pack of candy. "Have some," he said as he held it out to Naruto. "You'll feel better."

Naruto took it and crammed it in his mouth. "So, got a name, Geezer?"

"Jiraiya," the man said, "but I don't really like that one."

"What do want me to call you then?"

Jiraiya smiled with a devilish glint in his eye. "Just call me the self-proclaimed super pervert Jiraiya!!"

Naruto just looked at him with utter disgust. "How about we shorten that? Let's go with... Pervy Driver."

"Fine..." He brooded for a bit, but he remembered that his employer wouldn't like that. "So, Kid... know any Japanese?"

"Yes. My parents taught me of course. Although... I would've been much more grateful to know about this before hand."

Jiraiya nodded. "I know what you mean. The boss said you probably wouldn't like it. He said you turned out just like your pop."

"Yeah? Mom used to say the same thing." Naruto reached next to him into the mini-fridge and pulled out a juice box.

"Then I guess Fugaku knew what he was talking about, huh?"

"He knew Dad?"

"Kid, everyone knew your Pop." He checked his mirror to see if Naruto was happy or disgusted. He looked interested, so Jiraiya kept going. "See, during the war, a lot was going on. But, the worst thing, was the center bombing. The enemy sent in an agent who blew the whole place up. Well, Your pop and Fugaku were the only people there, and they were doing a check of the building to see if anyone else had snuck in. Sadly, Fugaku stepped on some bad flooring and almost fell through three floors. According to him, your old man said that, if Fugaku lived, he'd let his second kid marry his first."

Naruto blinked. He was never good with words, but that sounded like incest. "Huh?"

"Okay... Your dad married his first kid to Fugaku's second."

"Why not his first?" Naruto asked just a tad offended.

"There would have been almost a ten year age difference."

"Oh... Nice job Dad," Naruto declared, clapping his hands. "Hope you get the praise up there."

"So, Kid, what do you plan on doing when you get there?"

"Finding my fiancée, her father, and telling them both off."

"You're gonna tell her off, huh?" Jiraiya asked with a smile firmly put in place.

"Damn straight. I plan on heading back home and adopting a kid."

Jiraiya laughed aloud when he heard the determination in the blonde's voice.

"Good luck with that," he said from up front as he shut the window between them.

"Hey!!" Naruto complained from the other side.

"Watch a movie," his driver suggested.

Naruto pouted, but he decided he would. After all, how many would he be riding in a limo after telling his "lovely" betrothed that he didn't want to go through with it?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Naruto yawned as he opened the door out of the limousine. He'd fallen asleep during the terrible chick-flick he'd been watching. After stretching out his limbs, he shut the door and looked up at the house they'd parked in front of. He ogled.

It was a mansion!! A freaking mansion for God's sake!! He closed his jaw and approached the threshold with butterflies running rabid in his stomach. He raised his hand to knock, but the doors opened on their own. Naruto took a step back out of shock and almost walked backward off of the tiny steps in front of the double-doors. Luckily for him, one of the door holders reached out and grabbed his hand. Smiling, the young man pulled him back up.

"Careful, Young Sir," he said as Naruto got back to his own feet.

"Oh come now, Iruka," the other said. "Don't baby him. What'll his engaged think if he turns out to be a pansy?"

"But Kakashi," the one with the pony-tail whined, "I'm just being courteous. That's how I am."

"Yes, yes, I know," the silver haired man said. Naruto muttered his thanks as he walked through to the entrance hall. Huge. It was covered in trophies and awards. Naruto didn't take the time to look at them. Instead, he pressed forward until he came to the end of the hall. Three ways to go.

He sighed in frustration and scratched at his scalp through his hair.

Butlers...

There had to be some kind of a butler in the place, right?? He looked around him and only found one door at the end of the hall on the left. He practically sprinted to get there. When he did, he knocked twice.

"Open it," someone said from the other side. Naruto did so and stepped inside. He frowned when he did. There were no butlers; just some guy looking for what one could assume was a book in the obvious library.

"Hello?" he asked, pushing a loose strand of hair behind his ear.

"Uhm... looking for my engaged," Naruto stammered out.

"Engaged?"

"…That's what the door keepers called it." Naruto thought the voice belonged to a guy, but not that one. It was too light. Even if his hair was long, he seemed too badass to have a harmonious sound. Maybe he practiced it due to sexuality? Naruto shook his head to stop judging him. That was rude; he never liked it.

"… You're here for my little cousin?"

"I guess so…"

"Really?" the older guy asked, a smile playing on his lips as he waltzed over. Really, you'd think he was a professional at something by the poise and grace he held himself with.

"Y-yeah."

"Oh man..." He removed the jacket he was wearing and placed it on a chair. "Name's Neji," he said holding out his hand.

"Naruto," the blonde said taking it. He blushed a little at how firm his grip was. He could only imagine the muscles that were constrained by the white collard shirt. "Mind showing me?"

"Sure thing." He placed his hand on Naruto's back and pushed him out of the room. Keeping his hand in place, he moved him through winding hallways and meandering stairs until Naruto thought he was going to die. The fact that Neji wouldn't talk the whole way either just made matters worse.

"Here you go," Neji said, taking his hand off of Naruto's back and using it to showcase the door. "Your future father-in-law is right through here. Fugaku is his name. If you'll excuse me, I have a previous engagement."

"Thanks," Naruto almost whispered, ushering him off. Once Neji was gone, Naruto rapped on the door. It pushed open on its own, no door holders. He poked his head through and stepped in slowly once he was sure it was safe. The place looked like it could have bested the National Armory.

Weapons from what looked like every nation lined the walls. The groups of swords hung under their country's flag respectively. Suits of armor were lined up and stood shining, intimidating all who caught their lifeless gaze. Naruto couldn't find it in him to move.

"And you are...?"

Naruto shook his head clear of the scary thoughts that were brought on from the room. He hadn't noticed the man behind the large desk, piles of papers taking up most of the space.

"Uhm, Naruto," he said.

"Naruto??" Fugaku thumbed through a few things in front of him. Looking up, he said, "I don't know anyone with that surname name."

"Oh! Naruto isn't my family name, sir. Uzumaki is. Sorry." Naruto shook his head in apology. "I'm used to the US."

"You never held up a residency here, right?" Fugaku nodded for him as if to reassure himself. "You are _Uzumaki Naruto_?"

"Heh... yeah." Naruto ran a hand through his hair and offered up a cheesy smile. "See it in your papers now?" he asked.

"Well, I don't need to check papers. Are you not the fiancé?"

Naruto nodded. "But there's something--"

"Wonderful!! I'll take you up right now!!" He stood from his seat and grabbed Naruto by the elbow. "You know, I knew it was you before," he said as he pushed them through the door of his study. "You look just like your father when he was your age."

"Uhm... thanks I guess."

Fugaku looked down at the young man he was leading through the large house. "That's right... we were in a war, weren't we? There aren't pictures of him around that age… They got shredded in a bombing over the old town."

Thumbs up. "Lovely job... So, before I utterly disappoint you, tell me about this person I'm _supposed_ to marry?"

"Oh yes. My second child. Full of ambition and passion for the art of fighting. A genius when it comes to academics and politics. Incredibly skilled in the rules of the business world. A wonderful talent on the piano, especially when it's a duet with..."

Naruto tuned him out after that. Instead of listening, he let his mind wander. His thoughts fell to his _fiancée._ Looking at the man attached to his elbow, he hoped the girl's mother was VERY pretty. Although, she probably was since Naruto's father had promised him out. He most likely saw the first kid too, right? So the second one had to look something like that one.

"...cousin Neji are marvelous together."

Naruto looked up when he heard that tiny tidbit. "Could you repeat that please?"

Fugaku sighed before coming to a stop. "After such a long monologue, you want me to remember and repeat everything?"

"Sorry," Naruto replied, tugging at the back of his hair. "But could you just say the last part please?"

"I said watching a fight and then a duet with your engaged and my nephew, Neji, is wonderful."

"Really now?" Neji was almost feminine once you got passed the muscles, and this kid was his cousin. She had to be pretty.

"Well, why not look for yourself?" The broad man made a gesture toward the large double doors that stood before them. "They're in here sparring right now."

"But, isn't that a little tough?" Naruto asked, just a tad bit over perplexed. "Neji felt like he could tackle a grizzly if he let loose."

"Not at all," Fugaku laughed. He placed his hand on one of doors and pushed. "Here, look."

Naruto did, and he was shocked. After getting over the absolute beauty of the dojo-styled room, he took notice of the two boys attacking each other relentlessly in the center. It was Neji, who he'd seen earlier, and someone else who looked to be closer to his age. He was exquisite.

Every single attack he executed was beautiful, and there were no wasted movements. He seemed to dance as he fought, landing every hit gracefully and without any excess energy. He was fast and precise with every blow. Even though Neji blocked them to the best of his abilities, he seemed to be slowing down. There was obviously some power behind the beautiful attacks. That was easily derived just by watching. Small, adolescent muscles rippled under the other boy's pale skin as he effortlessly bashed his opponent. Even when Neji managed to break through the other's defense, he couldn't make contact. One final miss left a terrible opening, and the other fighter sent him sailing with an elbow to the ribs.

Neji clambered to his feet and wiped at the sweat on his forehead.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "I see you've grown well into your name."

His cousin harrumphed and ran a hand through his bangs. "Oi, shin?"

"No, it's not really anything new, is it?" He grabbed a towel from a nearby bench and draped it over his head. He tossed one to his cousin. Said boy caught it with expert poise.

"Arigatou." He started to dry off his hair before he noticed the people in the doorway.

Naruto jumped at the piercing glare he received.

"Tousan…" he growled out.

"Konichiwa, kawaii," the man gushed. Naruto gurgled from next to him. "Daijoubu?"

"Do you mind?" the blonde asked. "I understand, and I have no problem going on with you, but could you please switch over to English?"

"Nani?" the sweaty brunette asked in front of him. "Doushite?"

"I don't like to hear it coming from someone other than Mom or Dad," Naruto explained. "Please?"

He thought on it before nodding. "Wakarimashita."

Naruto gurgled again.

"Sorry." He held out his hand, and Naruto took it. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"Na…" Naruto shook his head. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke desperately tried to blink away his surprise. That was quickly ruled out by his sudden anger. "Tousan!!" he shouted up at the man.

"Hm?" Fugaku asked, smiling down at the young man in front of him.

"Hotouni?!"

"Well, what did you think with a name like that?"

Sasuke scoffed. "You meet boys named Shinta, ne?"

"There's some news for you, Sasuke," Neji laughed from behind him.

"Neji!!" Sasuke spat. "You knew didn't you??"

"I met him earlier," the older boy admitted.

"Doushite??" Sasuke grabbed at the towel on his head and pulled, squashing his hair under it. A sigh escaped him. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" He shot Naruto a hateful leer that actually came off as comical since he had tufts of hair poking out from under his towel. "And you seem perfectly content with it. I mean, you did show up."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto whined. "I have no clue what's going on here!!"

"You didn't read the letter?" Sasuke asked, eyebrow quirked.

"I read the part that said I was engaged… Which reminds me!! Fugaku, where is she? I came here to tell you and my fiancée that I didn't want to go through with this."

"You came here without even finishing the letter?" Sasuke growled.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

Sasuke pulled his towel down to rest around his neck. With a sigh, he placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders. "If you had read it, you would have read about me, usuratonkachi."

"Oh, I'm sorry I excluded you from my knowledge bank. Would you like to join the useless people's account?"

Sasuke squeezed his shoulders before noticing that the blonde squirmed. He loosened his grip. "Baka!! Are you that dense not to catch on by now?!"

"Come one… you're already calling me an idiot? It usually takes at least a day before I get that title."

Sasuke almost shook with rage. "MORON!! Pay attention: I'm Fugaku's child!!"

"So?"

"You're _my_ fiancé!!"

Naruto choked on whatever breath he was taking. Turning up to Fugaku, he asked, "Is he serious?"

The last thing Naruto remembered about that first day was seeing the man nod.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

uhm... it was really hard using betrothed and engaged instead of fiance and fiancee... sooo... don't get on me. after this, people won't sound like robots.. except for Itachi. He sounds nothing like he's supposed to. excuse his terrible OOC-ness in the next chapter


	2. Win!

_FOR PEOPLE WHO JUMPED: Naruto showed up with no intention to stay at the Uchiha household whatsoever. He was going to march up to his fiancee and tell her off, but, he got lost and got Neji to help him out. He found his betrothed but, upon finding it to be a guy only slightly older than himself, he fainted on the spot._

here ya go. I'm working on like four of these now soooo... don't get on me if I start updating a bit slower after this. that's why I put up two.

* * *

With a groan that accompanied him like every morning, Naruto cracked his eye open before shutting it again instantly. He felt like he'd been sleeping for ages, making up for the terrible plane ride he'd taken the day before. He yawned and rolled over to rule out the thought of getting back on one of those flying monsters. The wonderful linens he was using made it much easier to fall back asleep as well. However, just as soon as he felt sleep lulling him back into a lovely dreamland, he felt a hand go through his hair.

A beautiful, rhythmic voice accompanied it in whispering, "Ohayo koi…"

"Ohayo," Naruto sighed back. When the same, heavy hand started twisting the ends of his hair, Naruto's thoughts began to stir. With a jolt, he shot up, jumping from the large bed and landing on the deep blue carpeting. "W… what the hell?!" he managed to choke out.

"… Daijoubu?" the person on the bed asked. They still hadn't moved from under the covers.

"Stop talking in Japanese!!" Naruto ordered.

"Okay… what's wrong with you?"

"I woke up with someone in bed with me!! And… and you called me 'koi'!" Naruto stood up and ripped the black comforter away from his bed guest. "What the hell are you doing in here, Sasuke?!"

The brunette on the bed propped himself up on his elbow and sighed. Running his free hand through his hair, he said, "It's my bed. And it's my room. Am I not obligated to sleep here?"

"But… but…" Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts up a bit. "Why am I in here then??"

"Well, you are my fiancé, ne?"

"We can't get married!!" Naruto shouted. "Did you not notice that we're both male?!"

"Of course I did. But… I'm devoted to my family. I don't mind if it means fulfilling my duties."

"…" Naruto stared at the boxer-clad boy on the bed. "You're really serious…"

Sasuke nodded. "And, you seem alright with it. Otherwise, you would have bolted from the room already, ne?"

"No!!" Naruto got on the bed in front of the older boy. Pulling to his knees, he said, "I'm not doing this!! It's unorthodox!! I'm going home and adopting a kid, dammit!!"

"You can just adopt a child with me," Sasuke reasoned.

"I'm not staying here, and that's final!!"

"That's not what you said last night," Sasuke countered, frowning at the decisiveness in the blonde's voice.

"What the hell are you talking about..?" Naruto demanded.

"Last night when I brought you in here." Sasuke sat up put his hands on Naruto's shoulders since he looked like he could run from the room at top speed at the moment. "You weren't so against it then."

"…I was knocked out!!" the blonde insisted when Sasuke's face got too close to his.

"You still talked to me, koi." Sasuke easily managed to wrestle Naruto back down to the mattress and pin him in place. Sitting on his waist, he asked, "Did I really look nice when Neji and I were sparring?"

Naruto blushed to the tips of his ears. "Excuse me??"

"That's what you said, love." He poked Naruto's chest before going on. "You said I looked beautiful when I was moving around on the floor out there. And, you said that I sound lovely too."

"Well… Last I checked, that didn't mean anything." Naruto wiggled a little under the unfamiliar weight on his body. "It just means you're in tone with yourself, and your voice is harmonious."

"Hai-…Demo-- No one's ever actually told me that before." He smirked down at the blonde teen under him. "I'm sixteen and, after all the girls I've swooned, have never once heard someone say that. You'd really have to like me for that to slip in your subconscious."

"I always talk in my sleep though." Naruto was starting to get a little annoyed. A situation like that could hinder his leave. "Mom used to kill me for it."

"Really? I think I like it." Sasuke leaned down until he was only a hair's breadth away from touching his lips with the rosy set under him. "It's nice to finally hear what someone really thinks."

Naruto tried for a scream, but all he could produce was a squeak. He looked at the door to see who it was when he realized that it was the hinges rather than his own vocals. He was glad to see someone older walk in.

"Sasuke… what are you doing?" the new enigma asked. He leaned his body on the frame of the threshold and sighed. "It's well known that you're to wait until the honeymoon before partaking in intercourse together."

"H-hey, hey!!" Naruto cried from under his fiancé.

Ignoring him, Sasuke asked, "Who told you that you were allowed to just enter my room?"

"Why, you did, Sasuke." The enigma walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. "Right after you thought I'd left forever you said that I could come in whenever I wanted."

"Hmph."

"Don't be arrogant for show, Sasuke." The new person reached over and grabbed him from on top of Naruto. Pulling the smaller back close to his chest, he said, "It's unbecoming to reject me just because you've made a new friend."

Sasuke grunted one more time before the older man resorted to kissing his head. Sasuke smiled finally and said, "But you messed up my flow, Onii-chan."

"Like I said: You have to wait until the honeymoon. As you're aniki, I have to make sure that you keep your morals in order to some extent." With a sigh, he added, "I don't think I consent to this either."

"Really?" Sasuke asked, a little disappointed. Naruto was rather happy, on the other hand. Sasuke looked like he really took his brother's opinion into consideration, so the blonde was sure he was home free.

The older Uchiha nodded. "Really. Look at him." He made a gesture over to Naruto.

"What's wrong with him?" Sasuke pouted.

"He looks unruly." The two teens cocked their heads in slight confusion. "For one, check his hair. Even though he's lived in America, he's still just as Asian as either one of us. Compared to his bed-head, yours looks flatter than paper."

Naruto didn't like that.

"Also," Itachi continued, "I don't think he's formidable to marry my little brother. Your spouse should be perfect."

Sasuke frowned along with Naruto on that statement. "But, Onii-chan," he reasoned, "he's relatively normal compared to the people in our family."

"Explain yourself for disrespecting your kin," his brother ordered.

Unlike Naruto, Sasuke lost no nerve to the authority in his brother's tone. "The last time I surveyed our family, we all had some kind of ailment or flaw. Neji and the other Hyuugas have no pupils, but their peripheral vision and sense of direction are second to no one. The three of us, on the other hand, have a photographic memory that only kicks in when we're angry. That's not a good attribute. We're doomed to regret things until we die."

Itachi frowned. "I see your logic. However," he pressed, "most would find those things to be beneficial."

"Not if they knew what was wrong with me," Sasuke countered.

Itachi made a noise and tightened his grip on his younger brother. With a strained voice, he muttered, "Gomen."

Sasuke took a moment or two to relish in the rare sight of his brother's defeat. Placing his hands on the pair below his navel, he finally said, "It's okay, really."

Itachi shook his head and pressed his lips to the back of Sasuke's head. "No it isn't."

"It is," Sasuke urged with a sigh of annoyance. "If I've forgiven you, it's fine."

Naruto, seeing the decline of mood in the conversation, decided to lighten things up again. "Hey, Mr. Big Brother, mind telling me what's wrong with me now?" he asked, feigning anger.

Itachi looked up from his brother's naked back and scowled. "You aren't nearly handsome enough."

"What?!" Naruto shouted. "That's a terrible reason!! Look at you two!!" he cried pointing. "You look like a pair of twin angels!! No one can compete with that!!"

"You think so?" Sasuke asked from his brother's hold.

"Yes!! On top of that, your family is indebted to me since I'm the last of the Uzumakis." Naruto retreated to hunching his shoulders and scowling. "And, if you ever find someone more fit to that role than me, I will openly admit defeat and kowtow to you."

"Now why would I want to?" Sasuke asked. "Look at this man." Gesturing to his brother he said, "Anyone brave enough to go against Itachi's word is good enough for me."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked. "He's just any other guy, right?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I wish. When you came in, did you see the trophy cases?"

Naruto nodded. "I didn't check them though."

"There you go not going through things again." Sasuke seemed to scold him as he went on. "If you keep skimming over things like that, you're seriously going to get in danger."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"But anyway… More than two thirds of those are his for various martial arts." Sasuke frowned like a four year old. "He's been at it for about two decades now."

"Really?" Naruto asked in awe. "That's so cool… There's no system to my fighting, so I'm never getting any awards. But to have that many!! You must me really good," he sighed.

"Onii-chan…" Sasuke inclined his head a bit to whisper in his brother's ear. "He's starting to sound like one of those girls, don't you think?"

"I do. Therefore, I'll leave you be with him." Itachi quickly let go of his brother and stood up so quickly that he seemed to be a flash. "I'm in my room if you're in the mood for practice, Sasuke." He left the room before a response was given.

"Thanks a lot," Sasuke sighed to the door before turning back to the other boy on his bed. "So…"

"Sasuke!!" Naruto beamed as soon as he had the other boy's attention. "Sasuke, your brother is so cool!!"

"Because he has trophies?" Sasuke groaned when Naruto nodded vigorously. "I hate to burst your bubble, koi, but I _can_ beat him. He's just been at it longer than me."

"Really?"

Sasuke gave his affirmative before crawling back over to the blonde. "So, what say you to a bout?"

"Urk!!" Naruto jumped back and raised his arms in defense. "With you?" he asked. "I think I'll pass."

"Come on now," Sasuke bargained. "I'll go easy on you if that's what you're afraid of."

Naruto shook his head. "No way. I'm working on getting out of here. Getting my ass kicked is a sure fire way to stay put."

"Come on," Sasuke pushed, leaning over to ensconce the blonde in his hold again. "I won't bash you like Neji. Besides, my hits don't hurt."

"Oh please. Spare me the lies."

"I'm serious," Sasuke said, snuggling into the tanned person next to him. "And, if you refuse, I'll just keep you here—away from watching eyes."

That was more than enough of an incentive to get Naruto out of the bed and into the sparring room across the main building of the mansion. After climbing several flights, he was in the beautiful dojo-style room again. After seeing Sasuke had switched out clothes for his fighting pants and headband, Naruto started feeling a bit uneasy in his choice.

"Sasuke?" he called after he had a substitute uniform thrown at him.

"What?"

Deciding against saying he didn't want to fight anymore, since it seemed that Sasuke could very easily kick his ass, Naruto asked, "Are these going to fit me?"

"They should."

"…Right." Naruto disappeared to change. Once he reemerged, he took on his grappler stance and prepared to be hit with everything. "Remember, go easy on me…"

"I only give one hard hit," Sasuke said. "Honestly. The rest are little taps."

"Didn't look that way to me," Naruto muttered.

"Just come on," Sasuke ordered, rolling his eyes. Before Naruto could stall him any longer, Sasuke charged at top speed to assault the blonde. Naruto, seeing how he was rushing at him, jumped out of the way to dodge the punch.

"Nicely done," Sasuke congratulated. "You've got a good eye."

Naruto ignored the sweet talk and worked on evading the rest of Sasuke's fast attacks. After about fifteen minutes, he noticed that his opponent was slowing down. Only a little though. Still, a little was enough. Naruto took something that he thought was an opening and went to jab his elbow through it. Sasuke easily deflected it, but Naruto used the extra force given to him to enhance his rebound and delivered a head-butt to Sasuke's chin.

Recovering, Sasuke panted from his crouched position. He made another attempt to charge the blonde again. This time, Naruto ducked back, just barely escaping the graze of the pale fist. He lunged forward and tackled Sasuke by the waist. Once they hit the floor, Naruto scrambled to his feet and backed up. When Sasuke didn't rush at him, he raced as quickly as he could to reach the brunette. Sasuke lowered his shoulder to make an impact, but Naruto saw it. Instead of taking it head on, he ducked into a baseball slide to pass under Sasuke's arm. He turned on the heel of his palm and pulled a sweep kick across Sasuke's ankles.

There was no denying it when Sasuke crashed to the floor on his stomach. And there was a witness.

"I change my mind," Itachi said from the doorway. "He's more than acceptable."

Sitting up with the worst grimace imaginable, Sasuke said, "He isn't human." He touched his hand to his now vividly pink stomach and cringed.

Offering a hand to help him up, Naruto said, "No way. I saw him fighting with Neji. He gave me an advantage."

Sasuke shook his head when he was standing again. "You're wrong. I gave it up after the first ten minutes. No one's ever lasted that long with me."

"Seriously??" Naruto asked, his attitude sparked by his feat. When Sasuke nodded, he cried out, "Hell yeah!! Take that pretty boy!!"

Watching the hyperactive teen bounce around the room, Sasuke started to ponder the bout to himself. His method of fighting never failed him before. It was always effective. First, he'd give a hard hit to get his opponent on guard. Then, he'd continue with a procession of fast attacks and quick footwork. Just dodging it was bound to tire someone out. Then, he'd open up his defense, dodge a desperate move, and deliver one more devastating blow to put his competitor down. It always worked before he started to tire himself.

"You've got one hell of a stamina-storage," he commented once Naruto came to a stop.

"So what?" the blonde asked.

"It's abnormally high if you're able to scuffle with me for that long."

Naruto shrugged.

"Not only that," the young Uchiha continued, "but it was nearly impossible for me to predict your movements. How do you do it?"

"My dad," Naruto beamed. "He was a cop, and I often went along with him. I got to apprehend the kids my age. Fighting in the streets gives you a very complicated style. As for the stamina… I dunno. I've always been like that."

"Really?"

Naruto nodded. "Mom says I've had endurance like that since I was a baby. You can imagine what that was like."

"So," Sasuke scowled, "you've got no skill other than a high energy reserve?"

"Don't belittle it," Naruto frowned. He actually looked a bit depressed. "It saved my life once."

Sasuke still couldn't bring himself out of sulking while giving Naruto a tour of the main mansion. He was going to get Naruto want to stay with him. He hadn't been beaten since he was ten years old. A rookie handing it to him had Sasuke in knots. Because of that, Sasuke just couldn't let Naruto leave. He had to learn to conquer the unruly fighting style. He had to practice against someone who fought like Naruto in case he was confronted with someone like him again.

And, above all else, he couldn't help but wonder what a person who could beat him was like.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

well... Sasuke fights in the same fashion that I do. Naruto isn't like the one in MaL and... that's how I learned to fight. in the streets? hell yeah. but... I applied stratagy soooo... I haven't lost since the third grade. SO!! I can honestly say that it works and follows all logic. Also... Sasuke's not the kind of person to just agree to something so happy go lucky like that. He's doing it because his family wants him to, and he likes someone who speaks their mind. uhm.. that's it for now. later


	3. Dinner

_FOR PEOPLE WHO JUMPED: sooo... the first two chapters, Naruto showed up. He had no intention whatsoever of staying in the Uchiha household, and he is very much so not liking the fact that he shares a bed with Sasuke._

_There's a bigger issue than that though. They are supposed to get married. Naruto would much rather go back to NY and adopt a kid rather than sit around in Japan with some whiney emo kid that's only a little bit older than he is. Sasuke, on the other hand, isn't so opposed to the idea as he used to be. He's shocked that anyone could get him down in a fight, and his brother approves. Everything seems peachy to him. _

_Neji has a thing for Naruto._

uhm... this is rather.. random... and it did make sense once, but the computer erased like.. two pages in the middle. i tried rewriting it, but i don't think it's as good as the first shot... especially toward the little spat with Sasu and Naru.

* * *

As the main building tour began to wind down, Naruto began to get bored. Walking through agonizingly long hallways and making countless turns was almost as bad as taking a plane halfway around the world. When he was sure Sasuke cooled down a bit, from whatever it was that had him so upset, Naruto resolved to call it quits.

"Hey, Sasuke," he called to the boy in front of him.

"Hm?" he called back, looking over his shoulder behind him.

"Do you think that maybe we could stop?" he begged. "I mean… I wouldn't mind talking for a break instead of dragging my half dead self around."

"Really?" Sasuke asked, putting on a look of confusion. "So much for stamina."

"I'm bored!!" the blonde exaggerated. "It's different when I'm bored."

"Alright, alright." Sasuke jammed his hands in his pockets and stopped. Turning around completely, he took in the pitiful sight before him. Naruto had gotten so tired of walking that he sat on the floor, limbs all sprawled out. His eyes looked droopy, and he seemed to want to do nothing more but sleep.

"You're a disgrace," Sasuke said flatly.

"Call me what you want," Naruto mumbled, "but you can't get me in low spirits."

"I wasn't aiming to," Sasuke promised, moving to sit next to the boy on the floor. Burying himself in the bright yellow mass that Naruto called his hair, Sasuke squeezed him close. "It would ruin a marriage that hasn't even had the chance to occur yet."

"Sasuke, I've told you, I don't want to." He shifted his shoulders a bit to shrug Sasuke off, but that only resulted in the other teen getting closer. "I'm bored, tired, and slightly annoyed. It's not good to be on rambunctious people when they're like that."

"I know all about that, really." Sasuke twiddled with the golden hair that fringed by his face.

"…Hey. There have to be other people in this house, right? Other than your brother and parents I mean."

"Of course," Sasuke grunted. "We aren't that pompous that we live here all on our own."

"Really? As I remember, you were quick to say that you can easily beat your brother in a fight."

"That's different," Sasuke snorted. "He was stealing the only little blonde I've ever had."

"You know… I'm not that much smaller than you. If anything, I'm a few inches shorter."

"If you say so." Naruto looked around the deserted hall before letting a sigh go. "Hey, Sasuke, why exactly are you latched onto me like a birr?"

"You're rather squishy, koi." He couldn't help but laugh when he felt Naruto wiggle at the comment. "I find it very comfortable."

"…The things you say… Sasuke, are there any girls here?"

"Other than my mother?"

"That's a given," Naruto said, regardless of the idiocy in the question.

"There're two. My cousins."

"Dude, let me meet them."

Sasuke shook his head. "They're normally busier than I am."

"Oh come on… I just need to see a chick, man. Please?"

Sighing, Sasuke stood up. He gave Naruto his hand and pulled him to his feet. "We'll attempt."

"Alright!!"

Naruto followed closely behind his tour-guide until they reached a large set of doors. Sasuke pushed them open, and Naruto was led outside into a small, yet still beautiful garden. There were flowers that shouldn't have even been in bloom. A smile spread over Naruto almost instantly.

"Oh this is awesome!!" he cheered. "Sasuke, who tends this? It's incredible!!"

"Uhm…Th-that would be m-me," someone stuttered from behind them. "Oh… My l-little s-sister helps out too."

"Hinata," Sasuke said taking her hand, "please, no native tongue. He has an issue with it. Now, I beseech you, meet Naruto. He's my fiancé."

"H-he is?" the dark haired girl stuttered out. Sasuke nodded, and she said, "You're v-very lucky. He's very h-handsome."

"Thanks," Naruto said, trying to hide his smile of embarrassment. "You don't look too shabby yourself there. I love your cut."

"O-oh… Th-thank you," Hinata nearly whispered. A faint pink started to rise on her cheeks. "U-uh… Sasuke, d-do you think he'd want to m-meet H-hinabi?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Why not? I'm only dragging him back to my room to interrogate him later."

"Please let me meet her?" Naruto nearly begged, grasping her by the hands. "I'll love you forever if you stall this for me!!"

"Moron!!" Sasuke cried, bashing his betrothed on the head. "You're gonna scare her away!!"

"Really?" the blonde whined. "I'm sorry… Miss. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Th-that's okay," Hinata said. "Now, i-if you give me a m-moment, I'll get Hinabi."

"Thank you!!" Naruto called after her as she dashed away. While the girl was gone, Sasuke started complaining about Naruto getting chummy with Hinata. Naruto, of course, said he was just being friendly. Sasuke, on the other hand, didn't believe him; he'd been too enthusiastic about meeting a girl his age in the house. He only had a chance to see the smaller girl with long hair before Sasuke dragged him away.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Just as he'd promised, Sasuke dragged Naruto off to his room to interrogate him. He made it seem as though he never had company. He asked questions that varied from Naruto's favorite color all the way to his position on current political statements. How he always managed to get back to the most uncomfortable question in the world, Naruto didn't know. But, Sasuke was able to do it casually. He always managed to ask Naruto how he could go about having sex with another guy. He was able to dodge it the first few times. But, after the sixth pop, Naruto started to feel a bit uneasy. The fact that Sasuke was snuggled up to him the entire time didn't make things any better either. Naruto decided that it was time to get out of the room and to a much safer place that held a more chaste atmosphere. Otherwise, Naruto might not have been so virgin anymore. On top of that, against his will.

But, at the dinner table, Naruto couldn't help but squirm. He felt inferior around all the elegant pieces of dining ware and sophisticated company. His mannerisms and eating habits seemed far more substandard compared to the people he was with. Even the little girl he'd seen in the garden, who looked no more than ten, seemed to have better etiquette. When that thought crossed him, he couldn't help but sigh in self-contempt.

Sasuke, who was sitting next to him, nudged him a bit from under the table. At first, he didn't get a response, but the brunette was determined. Instead of a gentle tap, he viciously kicked the flaxen teen. Naruto used all self control not to yelp.

Politely, he turned to bitch-raven haired boy, gritting his teeth to keep his volume under his constraint. "What is it, Sasuke?" he asked, tapping his fingers impatiently.

"You haven't eaten since you got here," the older teen explained. "You've got to b e hungry. Even Hinabi eats three times a day, koi."

"…Who's that?" Naruto asked, pain distinctly written on his face. "There are too many people living here for me to remember things straight…" He almost banged his head on the table before remembering where he was. With a groan, he sat back in his chair. "I mean, there are even servers or whatever you want to call them. Besides, your questions wiped my memory."

"She's the little girl," Sasuke offered, patting his fiancé on the thigh. "Now, why the hell won't you eat anything? You're making my father uneasy."

"Really?" the blonde asked frowning. "How can you tell?"

"He's been trailing after me since birth. The man's never even called me by my name," the Uchiha moaned. "Or did you not notice yesterday?"

"That's right… Dude, he so called you Cute instead," Naruto mocked, sticking out his tongue.

Being the tactical person he is, Sasuke decided to force his fair-haired acquaintance to eat. "If you can do that," he said in a rather frustrated tone, "you can chew. Here." He unremittingly used his fork to shove the largest leaf of lettuce he could conjure from his salad into the blonde's mouth.

After moaning in annoyance, Naruto chewed the leaf and swallowed it. "That wasn't nice," he muttered, poking at his own salad. "It was good though."

"So eat it," Sasuke urged, putting his arm around Naruto's waist.

"Cut that out," the blonde commanded, removing it slowly. Sasuke harrumphed, so Naruto gave him an excuse. "We're at dinner."

"Remember that you sleep in my bed," his counterpart hissed. Naruto chose to ignore him and eat his salad. Sasuke took that as a challenge to make his speak. "You also sleep much deeper than anyone I've ever met."

"So!!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his arm over Sasuke's shoulders. He wasn't willing to partake in that conversation. "Tell me again: Who's who, Sasuke?"

"Hmph. Idiot…" Sasuke took one look at his surroundings before deciding to go along with Naruto's request. With a sigh, he went around the table, giving out names and statuses. "Hyuuga Neji, my older cousin; Hyuuga Hizashi, his father; Hyuuga Hiashi, his twin brother; Hyuuga Hinata, his daughter; Hyuuga Hinabi, her younger sister." He took a second to yawn. "They're all related by marriage a long way back. More betrothal. Moving along, that there is my mother…"

"Hey, hey… I know the other two, trust me," Naruto interrupted. He took his arm from its perch on Sasuke's shoulders. "Besides, I just wanted to make sure of her name," he said, gesturing with an open palm. Pointing was rude after all.

"…" Sasuke frowned, wrinkling his brow. "You mean Hinata? Doushite?"

"For one, she knows what a boundary is. She uses no Japanese whatsoever."

"Sorry," Sasuke sighed. "But you have to understand, that's a lifetime of tradition."

Naruto ignored him. "Secondly, she isn't totally obnoxious and annoying like you are."

"I'll have you know I work on self-restraint daily."

"And further more," the blonde announced, like he was some sort of emperor, "I think she's utterly adorable. So is her baby sister. They're too cute."

Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch. "Do you forget that you're my fiancé?"

"Do you forget that I said repeatedly that I don't want to do it?" Naruto countered.

"Do you forget the rant you threw this morning about being best fit for the position? Hm?"

"Oh shut it," Naruto retorted. "You're very loathsome. Taking my hotheadedness into account like that. That's just dirty."

"You said it," Sasuke reasoned with a shrug. "Last I checked, I had a problem with impulses as well. You can't use them as an excuse."

"To Hell if I can't," Naruto murmured. "You'd be wise to do so too." He bit into his leafy appetizer again. With his mouth full he added, "It's very beneficial."

"You don't say?" Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at the nod he received. "That's lovely," he said, wrapping his arm around Naruto's waist again. The blonde made a noise since his mouth was full, but he couldn't get the message across for Sasuke to get off. However, he let the subject go all too soon. The moment he accepted that the older teen wasn't going to stop grabbing him, he was further assaulted. The brunette dropped one right on his stuffed cheek.

Naruto made sure he swallowed his load before speaking again. After taking a moment to compose himself, he said, "Sasuke…"

"Impulses," the martial artist stated, still latched onto him.

Clearing his throat, Naruto removed the pale arm from his hips. He pushed his plate away from him to stand from the table. "With all due respect, Sasuke-_sama_," he said, bowing to the boy next to him, "I must leave. Having someone turn everything I say to justify myself back on me just isn't working out. If you won't pay for my plane ticket, I'll take the money from my emergency funds. Now, will you humor with this?"

The table's other occupants stared in their direction. The commotion between the two hadn't gone unnoticed. They'd picked up on it when Sasuke first kicked Naruto. Everyone had been watching inconspicuously since then. Now, they wanted to see what Sasuke would do with the situation at hand.

"Sit down," he growled, grabbing the blonde by his sleeve. He yanked Naruto back to his seat before dropping his fist hard on his yellowed head. "Idiot. I'm not telling you again that you aren't leaving this place."

"Excuse me," Naruto argued, "but I don't EVER remember you telling me such a thing."

"It's implied," Sasuke grunted. "Now, I suggest that you stay seated or pick a guest room to accommodate yourself in."

"I want to leave," Naruto stressed.

"Well you aren't," Sasuke barked. "I run the house, and I say who stays and who goes!!"

"Well why the hell can't I?!" the blonde shouted, standing and again and shaking the older teen by the shoulders.

Sasuke looked anywhere but at the confrontation in front of him. He really couldn't think up a reason to keep Naruto there. He really didn't even belong in a place like this. He was loud, spontaneous, and quick to judge. That was everything that Sasuke was not. Everything that anyone in his family was not. And it wasn't really in Sasuke to keep someone in a bad situation like that without a reason. So, why was he doing it?

If he couldn't think of one, then he didn't have one. He had no right to deny Naruto his right to leave, so was he keeping him there? If he wanted to go, then he should be allowed. But he couldn't do that.

"I'm still waiting," Naruto growled, interrupting Sasuke's thoughts.

"Because…" Sasuke cast his gaze downward to even out his voice. The look Naruto was giving him just made things worse. "Because… I just don't want you to," the brunette said finally, his voice barely audible in the otherwise silent dining hall.

"Then tell me," Naruto began, his tone a bit softer, "why you don't _want_ me to leave."

Sasuke didn't want to answer that question. Hell, he didn't have an answer. What was one to say to something like that? Because I said so? Because you have to? Because you can't get back home?

Then he thought of one that might work.

"Because you'll be miserable if you do," he whispered, still gazing down at the polished floor. "It's not in me to be the reason for someone to feel that way and survive."

"What makes you so sure I'd be miserable?" Naruto asked, his edge back in place.

Sasuke moaned in agony. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to say what he was thinking. But then again, he couldn't go back in time and stop himself from being an ass.

Praying to every deity he could think of, Sasuke let out his absurd thoughts. "If you weren't forced to leave as a baby…" He trailed off, frowning at his own audacity to even think of saying something like what he was thinking.

"What?" Naruto asked. "What if I didn't leave?"

"If you didn't leave…" Sasuke bit his lip one more time. "… If you didn't leave, you'd be living with us anyway." Ignoring the shocked look on Naruto's face, Sasuke kept going before he turned back on his words. "That's how our betrothals work. That's why the Hyuugas live with us. And you'd be miserable because guilt would eat at you for years."

"Guilt over _what_ exactly?"

Sasuke started counting on his fingers before he stood up and actually looked Naruto in the eye. "One," he said, "you'd be deserting your dream-life."

"I've already ditched a bunch of friends to come here."

"Two," Sasuke pressed, "you'd be ditching a girl that thinks of you in the highest regards. I've never once seen her talk to anyone other than the people who live here without running away first."

"…Really?" Sasuke nodded, but Naruto shook his head. "Still, you don't seem like the person who would care about something like that."

"And you're very right. I don't. That was just an excuse to add to delay the real reason."

"And what would that be…?" Naruto asked, scowl firmly planted in place.

Sasuke smirked and mirrored Naruto's hold, placing his hands on the blonde's shoulders. Leaning over a bit, he was able to whisper into his ear without the entire family hearing him. "You won't be miserable; you aren't that kind of person. Hinata will be fine; she's only known you for one day. But me? I'm not too sure."

"Explain," Naruto squeaked.

"Trust me, the family doesn't mind if you run out on us. Everyone except for my father would be over it in two days. But…" Sasuke dropped his arms and pulled Naruto to his chest again that day, even if it was in front of almost everyone that held up a residency in the huge mansion.

"Sasuke…?"

"I think I like you," the brunette whispered. Naruto didn't move while Sasuke kissed him on the cheek the second time that dinner. "Really. I don't know why, but I do."

"You do see everything wrong with this, don't you?" Naruto asked once he'd gotten over his initial shock. After all, Sasuke had said that he was doing everything the way he was because it was needed in a marriage, not because he wanted to.

"I do," the older teen sighed, "but that's irrelevant if you're leaving. Just wanted you to know that."

"What??" Naruto moaned. He slapped on another sourpuss when Sasuke sat down and continued to eat his dinner. With every ounce of anger he could draw up, Naruto squared a punched into the onyx-eyed boy's shoulder. "Stupid Jerk… you can't say things like that." Naruto sat back down, but he didn't commence in eating, much like everyone else other than the boy next to him.

"You know," Sasuke said after putting down his utensils, "that rather hurt."

"Well you just gave my psyche a serious blow," Naruto argued. "Hey… do you really run this place?" he asked, finally turning to look at the boy next to him.

"Well, in essence," Sasuke boasted, sipping from his glass. "Tousan does… But you can see the situation between him and me."

"Nice," Naruto laughed nodding. The tension eased, and everyone went back to their previous engagements.

"So… why weren't you eating again?" Sasuke asked, dropping his arm back in its favorite resting place.

Naruto sighed before giving up and answering. " Since Mom and Dad died… I live alone, in an apartment, in New York. I'm not all high class like the rest of you. I'm usually eating delivery or take-out."

"Point being…?"

"I don't know how to eat all sophisticated like."

"…Are you serious?" the pale teen mocked. "Really, no one cares about that."

"For real?" the blonde piped.

"No, for fake," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "Yes, really."

"That's awesome." Naruto pushed aside his salad and grabbed four other plates. Getting one more go-ahead, he dove into the food and didn't say anything until he was done.

"Wow," Neji whistled from across the table. "He sure shovels it in."

"B-but where does he p-put it?" Hinata stuttered.

"Man… how many stomachs do you have again, dobe?" Sasuke asked.

"You really know how to pick a name," Naruto mumbled. "How do you do it?"

"It's called tough love."

"Yeah, I bet," the blonde said. He sighed before looking around him again. "So…"

"Tell me, koi, are you actually staying now?" Sasuke asked, easily disguising the concern in his voice.

"Well… yeah," Naruto said. In a more hushed tone, he added, "There's a reason I said _adopt_ a kid. Also the same I reason I said not to freak out about me being nice to …Hiiiiii…nata??" Sasuke nodded. "Right, her."

"Really?" Sasuke asked. "What is it then?"

Naruto shrugged. "Dunno really."

Sasuke thought for a second. There was a reason everyone he knew turned out the way they were. They had freaks for parents. He didn't know Naruto's parents, but there was a way to learn what they were like.

"Tousan," he called out across the table.

"Kawaii?" his father called back. No one thought anything of it except for Naruto. He giggled a bit.

"Tousan," Sasuke said after pinching the blonde, "mind telling us a war story or two?"

"… I thought you hated them?" Neji commented. Sasuke just sent him a look that said die. "…Right… Let's hear one, Oujisan."

"Do you really want to?" the man asked.

"Fugaku," Itachi said from next to him, "just tell the story before they lose the rare interest to listen."

"Dude… he calls him Fugaku?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"Is there a problem?" Sasuke asked. Naruto just grunted. Switching over his attention, Sasuke said, "Come on Tousan. I just want to hear about what it was like in boot camp."

After that, the family was sent into a long monologue about drills, terrible food, and having to sleep in a bunker with a dozen other men. Sasuke was careful to only pick out things about Private Uzumaki. Not only had they grown up together, but they were always put up in the same barracks. Turned out that the two were almost exactly alike, save for appearance. Naruto was the spitting image of his father whereas Fugaku, supposedly, looked like Itachi. A big contrast. But, after seeing pictures and concurring that Naruto did look like his father, Sasuke asked another question.

"Tousan, what was Uzumaki like?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean parenting wise," Sasuke nearly pouted. "He had to send you updates if you were able to say that Naruto turned out just like him."

"Oh." Fugaku seemed to go into a thought period for a while before giving a real response. "I really don't know. We didn't talk about that."

"What?" the young heir moaned. "Then how did you know?"

"Because I kept in touch with the boy's mother," the only woman present said.

"Kaachan?" Sasuke furrowed his brow and thought about that. Now, looking at the situation, his father didn't seem like the kind of person to keep up with things like that. "I guess it makes sense… Kaachan, what did his parents do growing up?"

"The same thing we did with you, Sasuke," she said a bit too chipper for his taste.

"And… what would that be?" he asked, a bit unnerved. "I can't remember infancy."

"Well, you two were just too cute. You see," she said, a smile in place on her painted lips, "the Uzumakis didn't leave until that one right there was about a year old. So, his mother and I, we had a ball with the two of you."

"Do I really want to hear this?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi laughed from beside their father. "Honestly, you don't."

Their mother didn't seem to notice. "I always wanted a girl, but I never got one. And it was my second time going through childbirth. That pretty blonde lady just loved what I did was you, Sasuke, so she did the same thing. I even have pictures of times when the four of us went out together. The baby pictures that are on display look nothing like you really did at that age."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke demanded.

"In these pictures, you look just like a little prince, right?"

"Well yeah, but—"

"Back then, we made sure that you and little Naruto there looked nothing like that. Have you seen his baby pictures?" the female Uchiha asked.

"No… why?"

"Take a look," she said a laugh audible in her voice. "Do you mind showing them?" she asked the blonde.

He blushed all the way down to his toes. "Actually, yeah, I do." He laughed for a while before making his next statement. "Really, Mom was a little… out there when I was a kid. The pictures scare me a bit." He stopped laughing abruptly. "And there's another poor kid in some of them with me. It's kind of depressing really."

"Oh please… just show us the pictures already," Sasuke grunted. "Do you have them with you?"

"They stay in my wallet which stays in my back pocket… Which I sit on." Naruto hummed to himself contently. "You're not getting them."

"Want to bet?" Neji asked from his seat. Naruto looked a bit confused, so he explained it to him. "Sasuke isn't one to take lightly. He knows no boundaries."

"Yeah right…" Naruto rolled his eyes for two seconds before they nearly popped out of his head. He jumped up and turned around so quickly that he could have started a whirlpool had he been in water. "D-dammit Sasuke!! You can't do things like that!!"

Sasuke just threw him a smirk before brandishing the wallet he'd sneaked from the blonde's pocket. "I'll do anything. Now… is there anything in here that you don't want me to see?? Other than the pictures I mean?"

Naruto fumed, rubbing his abused butt through his pants. He sat down saying, "Not really… no. But… don't you dare pinch my ass again."

"Right, right…" Sasuke popped open the leather money-holder and looked inside. Other than a school ID, a bus pass, and an old library card, there was nothing in it. He lifted the inside flap. "There they are. Alright, let's se…" Sasuke pulled out the small stack of wallet-sized pictures before flipping the thing back to Naruto. The sight shocked him though. "Naruto… did you have a sister?"

"Nope," the blonde admitted, kicking his feet back and forth. "That's me."

"K…Kaachan!!" Sasuke cried. "You call this cute?!" he nearly shrieked, slamming the old photographs down on the table.

"I think it's absolutely adorable," she giggled.

"I can't believe you did this to me… This _is_ me, isn't it?"

"It is," she chuckled.

With a ragged sigh, Sasuke gave the pictures back to Naruto. "That's you huh?" the blonde asked.

Sasuke nodded. "I can't believe you let her do that to me," he whined to his brother.

Itachi just shrugged. "I liked it."

"You have no soul for me to threaten, do you?" Sasuke spat.

"Zaa, ne?"

"I despise every last Uchiha I know," Sasuke announced. "No wonder I turned out like this… Dressing me up like a doll…"

"Oh man… Sasuke, you used to go out, _in public_, looking like this?" Neji laughed from behind them. "Good lord…"

"How did you get those?" Sasuke queried.

"From Naruto, how else?" the older boy scoffed. "His hold on things is terrible."

"Give them back," Naruto pleaded. "I'm not exactly proud of those pictures you know."

"Right, right…" Neji obediently handed them over to the blonde boy in his chair. "Here you go, cutie."

"Hey," Sasuke ground out. "Back off…"

"I'm not going to act on anything," Neji promised. "Really. I'm not that bad, Sasuke." He laid a hand on Naruto's head and pulled his fingers through his sunshiny locks. "Even if his hair is lovely."

"Yours is real nice too," Naruto said before Sasuke could object. "I can't let mine get too long though. You're lucky."

"Thanks," Neji said, devilish smile in place.

"Don't compliment him," Sasuke warned. "He'll go nuts."

"What about Sasuke?" Neji asked ignoring his younger cousin. "Do you like his hair?"

"Sasuke?" Naruto nodded. "Yeah. It's cool how he does it up like that and keeps it soft."

"Get off of this subject…" Sasuke growled. "Hyuuga, go sit back down."

"Alright, alright." Neji put his hands up in defense. "I'll go." He walked back to his seat and engaged in a conversation with his father.

"Back to this…" Sasuke grabbed the pictures again and held them up to his mother. "What is so adorable about this??"

"Well," the woman said, "you were both such pretty babies… We figured, why not?"

"Why not? How about because we were boy babies??"

"Well, boys aren't normally married off to each other either, are they? Besides, dresses are so cute!!" she squealed. "Oops!!"

Naruto blushed and slouched down a bit in his chair. She just told everyone present that Sasuke and Naruto had been dressed up as little girls in their baby days. "Might as well just show everyone," he mumbled. "I don't care anymore."

"That's a lovely idea," the woman cheered. "Sasuke, you heard him, pass around his pictures for him."

Sasuke shut out the rest of dinner as everyone cooed over the photos of his fiancé and he as infants.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

don't get on me... and... uhhm.. i need to take a bread from writting for a while because i need to finish up my project for school. laaaaaterrrrr


	4. Mornin!

well.. i'm back. i finished my project.. for the most part. and, going completely out of line, i submitted this first. it was sposed to be the very last one :'( ahhh well. it's rather short, as I'm sure you'll notice, but that's only because i have no intel on paintball/ airsoft. SO!! if you'd help, I'd be very greatful. I have no intentions of calling Douglas and asking him. and another thing-- I lurv this chapter. like.. really. the last one was crap, and this one makes me smile simply because Sasuke is very much so retarded XD have fun loves

* * *

"Come one, Sasuke," Naruto pleaded from the foot of the bed. "Really, I'm sorry about the pictures."

Sasuke harrumphed.

"Honestly," Naruto went on, "you can't stay mad at me forever. It's not my fault that you won't listen to me when you need to."

"I don't take orders from anyone," the brunette snorted from his nest in the pillows.

"… Do you really expect me to sleep in this bed, on my own free will, with you acting like that?"

"I do," Sasuke declared. "You shouldn't have a problem. If you stay still, there should be at least a foot of space between us."

"…" Naruto growled before leaning over to rip a pillow out from under Sasuke. "Fine," he said. "I'll sleep down here then. Good night!" He slammed his confiscated pillow onto the mattress by the foot of the bed and dropped down onto it. Grunting, Naruto wiggled his way under the sheets and feigned an attempt to sleep.

Sasuke took it as a truth and lay down as well. He settled into his countless pillows and easily drifted into his light doze. When Naruto heard faint snores from the other end of the bed, he let a sigh escape him. He didn't think he was going to just fall into sleep like his dark-haired comrade. He'd decided to actually stay after all. That alone was enough to keep someone awake for a while.

However, after about an hour of being lost in thought, he could feel the all too familiar exhaustion pulling on his tired body. Before he could carry out another assessment of his day, he was sleeping. Finally being able to power down had taken its toll on the blonde, but he did wake up to use the bathroom like he normally would. When he got up, though, there was a rather disturbing sight before him.

He opened his eyes to find that Sasuke was next to him, much like the first night he'd stayed. A groan made its way from the back of his throat as Naruto got up. Returning to the bed again, he moved his pillow to the opposite end and went back to sleeping. But, about thirty minutes later, something cool slapped him in the face and stayed there. He awoke, again, to find that Sasuke was next to him. This time, he'd smacked Naruto with the back of his hand in his sleep.

The blonde, starting to get annoyed, moved to the other end of the bed for a third time to escape his persistent chaser. He didn't wake up again until the morning actually ensued, much like another other normal person. To his demise, as anyone could guess, Sasuke was lying right next to him. Naruto rolled over and put his back to the other teen, disgruntled confusion running through his mind.

He was sure that he'd been moving away from Sasuke, but, if that was the case, he should have been at the bottom of the bed again. Instead, he was surrounded by pillows, at the headboard, with Sasuke's arm draped around his waist (as he'd just noticed), and the brunette breathing evenly in his ear. Quite the contrary to what he remembered about the night before.

Striking up the resolve, Naruto rolled back to his fellow bed-occupant. Shaking him a bit by the shoulder, Naruto called out his name in a soft whisper. Sasuke just grunted before turning away from the nuisance trying to rip him from his peaceful dreams. Naruto, however, did not give up his attempts. After the fourth try, Sasuke gave in and rolled over to face the blonde.

"What."

"The hell am I up here for?" Naruto asked, a mock scowl in place on his lips.

"You came up here on your own," Sasuke breathed. He cracked one eye open a bit, as if to test the light, before lifting both eyelids half-way. "You did it twice before too."

"No," Naruto said clearly, "I kept moving away from you."

"Wrong," Sasuke countered. "You just came up here mumbling to yourself while I was sleeping."

"….While you were sleeping?" Naruto got a nod. "Then how do you know that?"

With a yawn prior to his words, Sasuke said, "Photographic memory, koi. Kicks in when I'm angry, remember?"

"… You were seriously still upset with me?" Naruto moaned.

"Hn…. Yeah. But, seeing how you were determined to stay next to me, I think I can forget about it."

"Who says I wanted to stay next to you?" Naruto asked with a clearer-than-day grimace. "Maybe I was just cold."

"Call it cold, lonely, or whatever you want," Sasuke said, shrugging his one shoulder. "You still sought me out during the night."

"So?"

"So…" Sasuke began, dropping his arm around Naruto's waist again. He pulled the slightly younger teen close to him and pressed their foreheads together. "So, I'd say you more than wanted to sleep next to me."

"Shut-up," Naruto ordered. "It's not like that, and you know it. I'm still not keen on this idea."

"… You've already agreed to it," Sasuke reasoned.

"No, I agreed to stay. That's what one would call a loophole."

Sasuke just shook his head a little. "Doesn't matter," he said plainly. "You'll do it regardless."

"What makes you so sure?"

"For one, you're still in this bed. There are, indeed, plenty guest rooms available."

Naruto frowned. "You didn't tell me that…"

"What, you thought we had this entire house and no extra beds?" He didn't get a response. "Secondly, you aren't freaking out when I touch you anymore," Sasuke said, rather pleased at the truth behind his statement.

"… Assessments don't count without at least three supporting facts," Naruto grumbled.

"Oh… you want another reason then, huh?" Sasuke pulled back from the blonde and pretended to lapse into thought for a moment or two, leaving Naruto to simply believe that he was actually pondering the matter. However, he was not. As if with no pre-consideration, Sasuke pressed his lips onto Naruto's. To the shock of both boys, though, the latter didn't push him off on instincts. Instead, he closed his eyes and winced slightly beneath the lids; not wanting to see, waiting for the moment to pass.

Letting his hostage go, Sasuke smirked and said, "There's your third reason for you. Either you're in unimaginable shock, or you actually like me to an extent."

Naruto didn't want to answer him. He didn't like Sasuke… and, if for some bizarre reason he did after only one day, he wasn't about to admit it. The evidence did, however, point to an obvious attraction. Naruto rolled over when he realized this and groaned. Things weren't supposed to turn out like that. He was supposed to keep his name running since he didn't have sibling; not get hitched with some other guy.

"Don't be upset," Sasuke crooned, wrapping his arms around Naruto's waist again. "You don't have to come to terms with reality quite yet if you don't want to."

Naruto grunted.

A sigh slipped from Sasuke's lips. "I'm trying to be nice, a rare thing, and you don't even have the decency to speak?"

Naruto rolled over and scowled at the brunette beside him. "Fine," he said, malice hanging on the solitary word. "Bite me. Who says I'm not in terms with reality, ass? You jump to conclusions far too quickly. Head of house or not, I refuse to acquaint myself with someone like that. No one's going to tell me what's going on in my head, regardless of who they are!" He snorted again before turning away once more. "Dumb fuck."

Silence had befallen on Sasuke. To have the cheekiness, the audacity to speak to him in such a manner was unheard of for all sixteen years he'd been alive. Everyone had deemed him magnanimous and untouchable. By far, he'd never heard such insolence spoken to him. He couldn't help but feel extremely drawn to the blonde in his arms now.

When Naruto felt himself squeezed harder into the firm chest of the boy behind him, a squeak managed to escape his throat.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he demanded, sitting up to look at Sasuke's entire being. The older teen was still clinging to his waist, but he was able to look up at Naruto. When he did, the blonde gulped. He clearly had "lust" written all over his face. That wasn't good.

"I think I might love you," the paler boy said, nuzzling into whatever bit of Naruto he could manage. "Screw everything that says it's wrong. I wasn't up for it, but I don't think I can resist the chance to keep you for myself now."

Deciding to take it one question at a time, and with a serious look of disgust, Naruto asked, "I thought you wanted to do this as soon as you found out from your parents? Something about duty..?"

"Bullshit to make it seem right in my mind. In case you didn't pick it up the first time I'd met you (ignoring our newly learned about past that is), I wasn't too fond of the idea of being made to get married to a low-class, down-at-heel kid who managed to stumble out of the rubbish."

"…….Excuse me?" That sounded like a long stream of insults.

Sasuke shook his head. "At first glance, I hated you all together." He kissed one of Naruto's ribs to keep him from throwing a fit. "Then, I brought you here after you fainted. As you can imagine, I was unbearably pissed. I quite vividly remembered everything you mumbled in your sleep and took it into consideration that maybe you weren't just some…deadbeat dobe."

"That's oh so comforting," Naruto commented, just about ready to spring from the bed and disappear. "Tell me this then: what makes you love me now?"

"Not only the fact that you can easily hand it to me in a bout, I'm sure of that. But your impertinence too, koi." He wrestled Naruto down to the bed and held him there. "No one's ever spoken to me the way you do. Most people would find it appalling, but I love it." He practically crushed Naruto into him as if trying to absorb the blonde into his own body. "Just the thought alone of hearing you say such things to me… it makes me tremble."

A shiver passed through Naruto. This guy was a masochistic freak.

"As intriguing as that sounds," the blonde said, slowly trying to work his way from his captor's grasp, "I don't think I'm too comfortable in the bed with you at the moment."

"Why not?" Sasuke asked, slightly hurt at the hidden accusation. Without getting an answer, he said, "You heard my brother… right? I'm not going to do anything, honest."

"Really, I think I need to… do something," Naruto said, trying to get away regardless. "Besides, that's what your brother said, not you."

Sasuke frowned, his prior excitement slipping away. "I do take what he says into consideration though. One could say he's the only person that holds power over my ego."

"… I'm quite comfortable not taking a chance, thanks. And," he added, sitting up again, "if you value me at all, you'll let me go."

Sasuke frowned harder, causing lines to appear on his forehead. His expression softened into a pout when he realized that the blonde was, in fact, serious.

"…Alright," he said at last, releasing Naruto so that he was able to abandon the bed. He disappeared into the bathroom to take care of his morning rituals.

As he was alone on the bed, Sasuke was able to mull over a few things. For one, he thought about what he'd just charged the blonde of. Just saying that he outright had the same feelings was unfair. While the thought ran through his mind, it dawned on him that it could have hurt his chances a lot. The way he saw it, Neji had a better chance of getting with his flaxen fiancé than he. That put a scowl on his face.

For some reason, Neji had been better with in the romance world than he ever was. As things were, there wasn't much doubt that his older cousin could steal away Naruto if he wanted.

Without much warning, Naruto plopped back onto the bed next to Sasuke.

With a slight sign of irritation, he said, "I brushed my teeth while I was in there. I'd be in my right mind to advise you to do the same after your attack on me."

Without argument, Sasuke went and did as he was asked. Reemerging, hair and other various things taken care of, he stood scowling in the doorway.

"Do you need something?" Naruto asked after watching him stand on the threshold for a few long moments.

He got no response.

"Is something wrong?"

Again, Sasuke said nothing, only stood. This time, he crossed his arms and intensified the loathing in his glare.

"… What did I do??" Naruto asked, a sinking feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. It felt as though a rock had formed and refused to remove itself.

"You didn't do anything," the brunette said, finally breaking his own silence. "I was thinking, dobe."

The sinking feeling went away, only to be replaced with annoyance. "Must you? …Here's one you can understand: Teme. I'll be adopting that, lovely fiancé that you are."

"Hmp… Never thought I'd be hearing that from you," Sasuke muttered. "Japanese _and_ a proper title? I'm flabbergasted."

"I'm surprised you know such a big-boy word in English."

"Don't mock my intelligence, Naruto."

Said blonde sat up straight. "Do my ears deceive me?? Was that—dare I say it?—my _name_??"

Sasuke briskly made his way to the bed. After hovering over Naruto for what seemed like ages, he punched him hard on the side of his head. Naruto's hands shot to where, he was sure, a lump would soon appear.

Leering through tears that threatened to spill over, he hissed, "That's domestic violence!! Physical abuse, in fact!! I'm calling the social services on you."

Crossing his arms over his smooth, black pajama-top, Sasuke harrumphed again. "Idiot… It's normal violence unless we're in a relationship. Last time I checked, you were extremely opposed to the idea of it."

Ignoring the searing pain, and the still swelling bump, Naruto was able to at least wince. Looking at Sasuke, who was still in his superior stance, he said, "Regardless, do you really think you should be assaulting me as such?"

"It's to keep you in place."

"Of…?"

"… _Out_ of Neji's reach."

Taking a moment to digest those few words, Naruto finally repeated, "Neji?"

"You do remember him, don't you?" Sasuke asked in that degrading tone of his.

"Yes, but I don't know what you mean by it."

"Forget it then," the brunette said, feigning irritation to hide his relief.

Naruto, however, didn't catch the fact that his attitude was not real. He frowned pitifully before tugging on the hem of Sasuke's shirt. "Why are you so pissed with me today, huh?"

"I'm not," the older teen said.

"You sure as hell seem like it," the tan boy mumbled, dropping his arm and flopping to the bed again. He rolled over to face his back at Sasuke. "I'll leave you alone then."

"No you won't," Sasuke growled, the request sounding more so like an order. "Come here," he said, pulling Naruto back to his sitting position. He only scowled.

"What."

"Stop acting like a woman. That's my job remember?"

Naruto looked bewildered.

"I'm the pretty one, koi."

"You sure have the haughty bitch thing down, that's for sure," the blonde mumbled, sizing up the other boy.

"Leave it alone," Sasuke said. He shoved Naruto down to the bed again. Straddling his waist, he added, "Very easily can I retract that last statement of mine."

"I doubt it," Naruto scoffed from his spot under the slightly older boy.

"Why so?" Sasuke asked, leaning over so that he was close enough to kiss him again. However, Naruto did not waver.

"Simple. I wouldn't let you. There's no way I'd be the whipped bitch in your fantasy world." While Sasuke's mouth hung agape, Naruto leaned forward the tiny bit that he needed to place the quickest of kisses. "I'm bored. We're leaving."

Sasuke nodded and got off of the blonde. With a spring in his step that could've only been brought on my self achievement, Naruto bounded from the bed and made his way to the door. "Come on," he said, motioning for Sasuke to follow him when he noticed that he was still stupefied next to the bed. The brunette shook his head clear before obeying. On their way down the corridor to the stairs, however, they met a hindrance. Neji was just leaving his room at the same time as they were passing.

The shirtless boy in sweatpants was still in the process of pulling his hair back in a very loose ponytail when they reached him.

"Hey, cousin," he said, dropping a hand on Sasuke's head. Since he'd just done up his hair a few minutes ago, the gel was still a bit sticky. Making a face, Neji wiped his hand off on his pants. "Morning to you too, Naru-chan," he crooned, easily moving from one side of the couple to the other. He snaked an arm over Naruto's shoulders before leaning over close to his face.

"Do you need something?" the young teen asked, finding himself very unappeased at the closeness. He didn't like getting chummy with anyone. Sasuke was a good example for that. They were supposed to be engaged, yet he usually felt a harsh resentment when the brunette tried to spur things along between them—which happened quite often.

"Just saying hello," Neji said before kissing Naruto lightly on the cheek. Releasing the blonde, he stood back to his full height since it was necessary to bend due to his easily discernable inches over them. "Well, I'm off."

"Where to?" Sasuke asked, pretending that he hadn't seen what Neji'd done. He chose only to grab Naruto's hand instead. Naruto let him, rarity though it was. One person hawking after his virginity was more than enough.

"Air-soft, little ninja. Want to come?" Neji asked, hope clearly emanating from his voice.

"Why do you want me there _so_ badly?" Sasuke asked. He'd clearly noted the undertone plea. "I thought you hated playing those types of things with me?"

"I do," Neji declared. "But that freak and his brother are coming too. They kick our asses every time unless you or Itachi come."

"No thanks," Sasuke said with a wave of the hand.

"Why not?"

"Busy."

"No you aren't," Naruto said from next to his fiancé. "Besides, I wanna go. I said I was bored."

"Then it's settled!!" Neji cheered. Retreating to his room; he reemerged quickly and tossed a slide-card to Naruto. "That's your guest pass. I'll get you a real one later. Sasuke, go get your estate card."

With an air of reluctance, Sasuke did what was asked of him. Grabbing his tiny photo ID from his nightstand, Sasuke couldn't help but think that he was being tamed more and more with each moment he spent with Naruto. Already he could see what life would be like if the blonde really did consent to a marriage—no to mention he'd be seeing him everyday before then too. He couldn't stop his sudden shudder of resentment.

-.-

so?? how was it?? oh this right here: Without getting an answer, he said, "You heard my brother… right? I'm not going to do anything, honest."-- he's referring to the thing about waiting until the honeymoon. yeah... that's how my mind works. el. oh. el. Sasuke's gonna be a whipped little bitch-- oh how i love the universe of Fanon. Pnward!! gimme info on airsoft dammit!! I'm at a loss and don't feel like doing research, you know. I just got done doing stuff for school. Besides, I'm busy drawing thanks.

At the moment ((In this story that is)) Sasuke and Naruto are the only two that wear a shirt to bed, chicks included. Just... keep that in mind


	5. Seductive Little Bitch

WHOO!! couldn't do anything yesterday because... that whole... fix the site thing... so yeah!! here ya go!! you get it a day late XD and yes, he is a seductive little she-dog... and you know who it is as soon as they start talking...

HAVE FUN!!

* * *

Sasuke sighed as he swiped his estate ID to get through the hot, isolated member-check room. He was hoping for a rejection due to malfunction, but all he heard was the affirmative beep. He pocketed his card in hasty annoyance before stepping through the sliding double doors. Because of his irritation, he missed the fact that he was the first one in, leaving Naruto alone with Neji.

After kicking himself a few times, mentally of course, he pressed his ear to the door. It sucked that it was a one-way entrance. Straining for all he was worth, Sasuke listened for whatever was happening on the other side of the door. The fact that he suffered from extreme paranoia over Neji didn't help at all.

"Naru-chan, that's too fast!!" Neji said from the other side.

"That's too fast; that's too slow… Make up your mind dammit!!" Sasuke heard naruto shout.

"Oh shut up," Neji ordered. "Here--"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Naruto cried. "I can do it myself!!"

"Adorable you may be, but I doubt that. Just let me--"

"Get off my hand Neji!!"

Sasuke heard a smack from the quarreling duo.

"Dammit!!" Sasuke couldn't help but feel sick as an odd silence followed after Neji's outburst. When his cousin spoke again, he said, "Annoying kid… This is—what?—your first time doing this? Just _let _me--"

"No!!" the blonde yelled. All he got from Neji was a sigh. "I'm putting it in myself—watch!! Next try, I bet you!!"

Sasuke could've sworn he heard Neji scoff. "I will!!" Naruto went on. "Ready?"

"Sure," came Neji's bored voice.

Again there was a pause, and Sasuke was sure he was going to vomit. At last, he heard Neji triumphantly claim, "You missed it again."

"I _noticed_!!" Naruto wailed, sounding more so exhausted than angry.

"Just let _me _put it in?" Neji begged again. A pause ensued, and Sasuke was sure his heart stopped. He could even feel it beating against his ribs; surprised that it didn't just pop out. As miserable as it made him, he couldn't help but think of the worst situation on the other side of the door, however unlikely it was. He practically collapsed against it to hear what Naruto would say.

In the ID-check room, however, quite the opposite to what Sasuke's suspicious mind thought was going on. Neji had sat himself down in a chair and looked on as Naruto had some kind of internal struggle. Why he couldn't just let him swipe the card was unbeknownst to him, but Neji wasn't going to complain about it. The longer he sat there scrambling his mind, the longer Neji got to look at him… Which was almost as good as having their hands-on argument.

"Neji," Naruto whined from the door. "I need hel-puh."

Neji just sighed from his seat and looked up at the blonde that was still trying to make the door accept his card.

"Even after you smacked my hand away, you want me to help?" the brunette scoffed. "Lovely logic you have, Naru-chan."

"Can you just get it in for me?" the younger asked, a bit disappointed in himself to be begging. "Better yet, help me. That way, I can do it by myself next time."

With a sigh, Neji said, "Yes, yes…" He got up from his chair and approached the younger teen again, this time a bit cautiously.

"You're fine," Naruto said rolling his eyes. "Just hurry please. I don't know how much longer I can take this heat."

"Alright, pay attention," Neji said, taking Naruto's hand that held his guest pass. He swiped his own first. "Did you see that? All you do is line it up, and… go." He pulled Naruto's through at a _normal_ speed, and the door beeped just as it had with his.

"Huh… That looks really easy," Naruto said after it went off.

"That's because it is, Naru-chan," Neji said, dropping his hand. Instead, he got his arm around Naruto's waist

"What the hell are you doing??" Naruto asked, his voice barely distinguishable from a growl when he felt Neji nuzzle into his hair. Before he got an answer, however, the sliding doors in front of them opened to reveal a very perturbed looking Sasuke.

"Get off," the Uchiha said, clearly annoyed with his cousin's antics.

"But, Sasuke," he whined, "you're the one who left him out here."

With a clear frown in place, Sasuke reached over to grab Naruto by the wrist. He pulled him over to stand next to him. "Cut the shit, Hyuuga."

"So mean," Neji said in a tone that feigned hurt pride.

"You know," Naruto said from behind his 'protector', "I'm not some kind of trophy item. Really."

"Maybe, but I'm not too keen on Neji taking you away."

Naruto twisted his face up in a grimace of disgust. "The haughty bitch, Teme. It lives within you."

Sasuke frowned and looked at his fiancé from over his shoulder. "Really, you don't need to step on my toes this time, dobe."

"God this is tiresome." Naruto chose to look around his surroundings since his company was bent on battling it out like a couple of cats. The place looked like an equipment room with coat hangers. And that's it. You'd think, with the way they lived, that it'd be a bit more flashy then it was. He sighed to himself as that ran through him. Being around Sasuke was starting to mess with his head. He'd have never thought to judge someone's possessions before he arrived. Bitch-raven bastard…

_Speak of the devil..._

Said boy found that time to be perfect to pounce on the blonde. "I said no, dammit!!" he shouted next to Naruto's ear. Naruto didn't have a chance to react before he heard Neji.

"It was just a question," Neji said, fists clenched at his side in frustration.

"Yeah, asked for the third time!!" Sasuke tightened his grip on Naruto. "I'm not doing that!!"

"…Doing what?" Naruto asked from under his captor.

"He wants a threesome," Sasuke said without taking his gaze from Neji. Naruto's need to vomit went unnoticed.

"Dammit, you're immature!!" Neji shouted, lunging toward the younger brunette. Sasuke dodged him easily, dragging Naruto with him. Recovering from his missed tackle, Neji shouted, "That's not what I said!!"

"In essence." Sasuke shrugged.

"Not in essence!! For once, your favorite phrase does _not_ fit!!" Neji turned his gaze over to Naruto, switching from hotheaded anger to desperate remorse. "Honestly, that's not even close to what I said, Naru-chan!!"

"Really, I don't care…" Naruto might as well have been quite. No one was listening to him.

"I just suggested that we take turns with you!!"

Naruto looked absolutely disgusted. Sasuke beat him to speech though. "He's not some part of a game!!" he shrieked.

"I didn't mean that way!!" Neji stressed, careful to keep his tension level low. "I meant on dates. That way, we wouldn't be sitting here arguing over who should have him!!"

"… No one," Naruto said from next to Sasuke. Again, he went unheard. After listening to them go back and forth for another two minutes, Naruto gave up on all hope that they would stop. He managed to wiggle away from Sasuke and was very content to watch the squabble progress from the sidelines.

"What're they fighting about?" someone asked, nudging him on the shoulder.

"The most idiotic things on this fucking earth," Naruto replied, not caring who it was that he was talking to.

"Well, that's nothing new, is it?"

"I suppose not. But then again, I just got here."

"Really?"

Naruto made to look at who was talking to him, really tried, but he was frozen in his turn. As soon as he'd caught sight of whomever it was he was talking to, he had to stare.

"Are you alright?" his mystery converser asked.

Naruto somehow managed to send the signal to his arms that he wanted them to move. He got them in the air and brought them down on the other person's shoulders. "Are you a guy?" he asked quite bluntly.

"Yes," he sighed.

"Do you know that you look very,_ very _feminine?"

"I'm told so quite often by my brother." The stranger ran a hand through his hair before letting out another sigh. He shook Naruto off of his shoulders before looking up at him through his eyelashes; it gave his eyes a very sultry, smoldering effect. "Why? Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Yes, actually…" Naruto took a second to drink in his new acquaintance. Sure, Neji was feminine, but this guy was borderline androgynous. Red curly hair that nearly touched his shoulders; beautiful eyes that rivaled the color of an ocean's water, the best freaking aquamarine ever; the cutest tattoo of the kanji for love on his forehead; and a very un-male stature. He was shorter than Naruto and notably frailer too, but he held an air of supremacy about him.

"You don't look so bad yourself," the redhead said, snaking a thin arm around Naruto's waist. He dipped his hand under the waistband of his bottoms, drumming his fingers against the blonde's hip. "Even if you're still in your pajamas."

"Th-thanks…" Naruto mumbled out. Where had his brain gone? It must've flitted away at the same time as his self-awareness. Maybe that's why he didn't notice the first time that the other guy wasn't wearing a shirt and asked that stupid gender question. And that he too was in sweatpants much like Neji. No shoes. "Uhm… N-name?"

"Gaara, love." He reached up to lay his free hand on Naruto's cheek and ran his thumb back and forth over the bone. "And you are…?"

"N-naruto… I-I'm Naruto."

"Naruto..." Gaara repeated. He turned the name over a few times in his head. "You're _Uzumaki_ Naruto?"

It took the blonde a while to respond since his grey matter was no longer amongst the living. "Uhm.. ah, yeah. Yeah! That's me."

"Ooh... So you're going to be the new addition to the Uchihas' place, ne?"

Naruto scoffed while his conscience was back for a moment. "Maybe."

"Hm." The redhead seemed to pout a bit at the boring response. He trailed his index finger down Naruto's jaw line and used the hand in pants to dig his fingernails into his flesh. Naruto whimpered a bit as Gaara started to inch his face forward. There went his brain again.

"I.. I am," Naruto stammered out. "N-not too sure on the whole marriage thing. B... But I d-do live there now."

"See, that was much better than a maybe. Don't you think?" Naruto nodded, much to Gaara's enjoyment. "Then I say a reward is in order."

"What for?"

"For being adorable." Gaara, despite his size, managed to pull Naruto close so that they were crushed together. He mercifully removed his nails and rubbed at the crescent indentations he'd made.

"I'm not adorable," Naruto muttered as a blush started to take over his face.

"Well, now that you're absolutely flushed, I think you are." The redhead stood on tip-toe so that he could whisper in Naruto's ear. "What say you to a kiss, hm?"

Naruto tried to refuse him, really _really_ tried, but all that came out was a raspy, "Yes."

Gaara smiled against his ear. "I thought so," he chuckled out. He turned his head a bit and brushed his lips against Naruto's. Said blonde saw fit to ravish him on the spot and attached himself to Gaara's bottom lip like it was all he needed in life.

Now, one must understand: It was very hard for Naruto to even convince himself that Gaara was bad for him. Add the seduction he used and his obvious sexual presence, and it's nearly impossible _not_ to look at him. On top of that, he was prettier than all hell with his fingers down his pants massaging his hip. Talk about tempting.

Sasuke, however, didn't take all that into account when he caught sight of Naruto with his arms around Gaara's waist. The redhead had one hand around Naruto's back and under his bottoms; the other tangled into his hair. Not to mention that they seemed inseparable by their lips.

Neji joined his cousin in his gawking. They were still standing in shock when the doors opened behind Gaara and his new captive.

"You seductive little bitch," the newcomer sighed, scratching at his head through his shaggy hair. "Gaara, get off."

He just cracked an eye to look at his brother. Gaara smirked against the blonde's lips before moving both hands behind Naruto's neck. He turned back away from Kankurou and hooked one of his legs around Naruto's waist.

"Ugh..." Kankurou reached over and plucked his brother from the slightly dazed blonde. "First off, pull this up," he said, grabbing Gaara's hair. He worked it into a rubber band before going on. "It makes you look more like a girl. Secondly, stop being a slut."

Gaara harrumphed. "I'm not a slut. Sadly, that would be you, Kank."

Kankurou rolled his eyes and grabbed his brother's hand. He locked their fingers together in a vice like grip.

"Let me go," Gaara demanded, struggling against his punishing hold. He even tried to push against him with his foot. No success.

"No... damned sex fiend." Still keeping his hold on Gaara, he turned to Naruto. "Sorry," he said with utter nonchalance. "He's like a bitch in heat every day of his life. It's just bad luck that he likes you." He ignored his younger brother's snarl.

Naruto, still dazed from what had happened, looked around with half-lidded eyes. He felt a bit dizzy until his gaze fell on his lovely fiancé. The boy that was so readily arguing over him earlier now had his back turned. That sinking feeling from that morning came back.

"What did I do?" he asked biting on his lip. It felt weird somehow.

"Suck the face off of some random guy you don't know," Neji said. Unlike Sasuke, he hadn't turned his back on Naruto. "I mean really, Naru-chan, why would you do that?"

"D.. Did I really..?" When Neji nodded, Naruto felt like he sunk into a hole he was never getting out of. "I'm killing myself..." He dropped into a seat that he saw in a corner of the room.

"You act like it makes you sad," Neji commented. Sasuke still refused to speak.

"Well," Naruto growled, "it does. I share a bed with him you know."

"You can sleep in my room," Gaara piped. His brother squeezed his hand, eliciting a hiss from the small redhead.

"...Explain that?" Naruto asked. "I mean, I refuse the offer, but how could I stay in your room?"

"Ohhh... you don't know?"

Naruto shook his head.

"We're living there too," Gaara said, relaxing in his brother's hold finally. "How else could we have gotten in?"

"Guest pass?" Naruto offered, whipping out his own.

Gaara just looked at him for a while. "...No. You need a house member to swipe theirs before you. And besides, who would give us one?"

"I got mine from Neji."

"He's in love with you," the redhead said bluntly. He tugged against his brother's arm to get to another corner of the room. When he didn't move, Gaara scowled and said, "I want to sit, Kank."

"Fine..."

When he was sitting again, Gaara went on. "Yep, he told us the same day he invited us for this."

"Really?" Naruto asked, not caring much about Sasuke anymore.

"Mm-hm. We live on the other side of the estate though. If you want details on why we're here, you're gonna have to ask our sister."

Naruto's face lit up when he heard that. "There's another chick in this house??"

"And she's blonde, just like you," Gaara said with a nod. "But she's a real bitch."

"What's her name?"

"Tema-- OUCH!!" A little yellow ball bounced off of his shoulder as a welt started to appear already. "What the fuck, Uchiha?!"

"Airsoft, _now_," Sasuke growled. He readied his gun again, just in case.

Naruto looked at him and would have turned away instantly had they not made eye contact. He was still in his pajamas, but his shirt was off, the sash was tied around his forehead, and there were goggles sitting on top of it. Not to mention the oh-so-less-than-happy scowl.

"You and you," he said, taking turns to point the end at Naruto then Gaara, "... you can wear a hat."

"And me?" Neji whined. "My hair is just as bad for this as theirs." He stopped complaining with a pellet hit him too. He howled from the close range. "Dammit!! Stop being an ass!!"

"Hn." Sasuke lowered his tad-less-than-lethal weapon and tossed Neji a hat from behind him. "Put it in a bun first."

"... That makes me look like a school teacher!!" the older brunette wailed. "I'd rather wear a braid than--"

Sasuke raised his gun again.

"...Fine."

"Tch... idiot." Sasuke let everyone see his hyper-emo-brood after he turned away from Neji. "Are we using gear?"

Everyone experienced in the game, everyone but Naruto that is, nodded vigorously.

"... Is this like paintball?" he asked. He still hadn't looked away from Sasuke, so everyone assumed him to be asking him.

"Not really." the scowling teen said. "And paintball hardly exists in Japan."

Naruto looked from him to the gun in his hands. "It looks the same."

Sasuke sighed and shot a pellet at the ceiling. It bounced back almost immediately, but he caught it. Showing off the little yellow ball he said, "In airsoft, we use pellets. In paintball, you shoot rubber balls at each other that explode on contact. Here, we just admit when we're hit. Besides, you can see when they rebound, and the person usually yells."

"That's the only difference?" Naruto asked.

"No. We use spring-loaded guns that activate air-pressed release. Paintball doesn't. Airsoft came first and worked its way around the world. Paintball did not. Stuff like this was used in war, paintball... not so much. Here--"

"Can you save the history lesson for later?" Naruto asked, cutting him off. The rest of the room's occupants looked at him like he was crazy. Because really, who would cut off an angry emo person with a gun in their hands? No one who was sane and valued life, that's for sure.

Sasuke marched over to the blonde and raised the end of the gun to his face. "Don't cut me off," he said in a monotonous voice.

"Or what?" Naruto asked, waving his hand. "You aren't going to shoot me with one of those. It obviously hurts."

Sasuke's grimace intensified ten-fold and he took his gun down. Just after Naruto said, "I told you," Sasuke brought it back up, whacking him across the chin.

"Bastard!!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. He threw a punch, blinded by sudden anger, but Sasuke dodged it. He kicked Naruto in the ass and sent him across the room. He landed in a rack of some sort, and everything tumbled down on him. They didn't hear anything from the pile of rubbish.

"I think you killed him," Neji said not daring to move closer to the heap on the floor at risk of being shot again.

"I don't think so," Sasuke countered. "He's very durable if he can survive a night in bed with me..." A frown graced him when he caught his own innuendo. "I meant kicking wise."

"Sure you did," Gaara said, rolling his eyes.

"I did." Sasuke pointed his gun at him again. Before he could send the pellet out at him though, he shrieked and grabbed at his own shoulder, dropping his gun in the process. Neji swooped in to take the destructive thing from him. "Who the hell shot me?!"

Everyone looked at each other. The only person with a riffle was Neji, and he'd just taken it from Sasuke.

"Me, you bitch." Naruto rose from the pile of crap that he was in, all decked out in gear that had worked itself on his body as he struggled to stand. He had one of the riffles in his hand, fully loaded, and aimed at Sasuke. "Stop shooting people when they're half-naked. I think it just might hurt a tad more than when you threw me into a _supply_ rack."

Sasuke scowled at him. "You won't shoot me again."

Naruto chose to contradict that statement instantly. When Sasuke hissed at the second shot, he said, "Don't _ever_ tell me what's going on in my head, Teme." The last word seemed to dribble out reluctantly. Not because it wasn't English, just because he held complete and utter distain for the boy at the moment.

And just like that morning, Sasuke felt a not-so-familiar excitement in the pit of his stomach. It stirred there for a while until Naruto said something else. It was something about Sasuke crying like the little bitch he was when Naruto was done with him. That sent him over the edge.

Without second though or hesitation, he bounded from his spot at Naruto. The blonde didn't have a chance to react, so he dropped his riffle when Sasuke dove at him. On contact, the brunette wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck. Why it shocked him so much that Sasuke pounced on him and began ravishing his mouth in the same instant, Naruto didn't know. After all, it was predictable based on what he said in the bedroom. Nevertheless, it took him a few seconds to process what was going on.

"Oh... my god," the grumbled out against his fiancé. "You masochistic freak... I didn't think you meant it this morning." He raised his hands to refrain from touching him. He might've gotten surprised and bit his poor lip.

"Sasuke... that's gross," Neji said from somewhere behind him. "He was just attacked by a whore, and you're putting your mouth on him?"

"That's deathly evil, Neji," Naruto spat. Apparently, Sasuke didn't care because _that_ got Naruto's mouth open, and _that_ meant that he could get his tongue in. When he did, Naruto's eyes could've popped out of his head. There was no point in trying to push Sasuke off since he was, in fact, stronger than he was. That fight the other day was a fluke.

So, he simply stopped responding. Sasuke, much against his will and with complete reluctance, released him after he noticed.

"Well," he said once he had to give up on his blonde, "get your gear people. We're waiting for you."

Neji went to a separate rack and pulled his things on. He never needed a head band so he just went straight for goggles. Gaara pulled against his brother again, this time with a "well... you can let go now" face, and he did. The androgynous boy got his stuff on, hat and goggles included. Naruto noticed that Kankurou wasn't getting into dress.

"You're not playing?" he asked.

Kankurou shook his head. "Nah. I'm just his keeper for the day. My only job is to make sure he doesn't run off to some strip joint." Again, he ignored his brother's evil scowl.

When everyone was dressed, and Sasuke put on a vest due to Naruto's nagging, he told everyone to get three containers of pellets. That was the limit. They did, and the other three players followed him out to the arena. Naruto took back what he said about the supply room after he saw it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

yay!! Brooklyn loves Gaara XD

I did research. paintball and airsoft are differnt -.- and airsoft hurts like... WAY more. Doug shot me once. Instant welt XD hrm... yeah. mood-swings. Sasuke has mood-swings like holy hell. OH!! what say ye to m-preg. it came up in the reviews. I ge thte arguement, yes, it would be funny. and I get the argument, no!! this is already good because it sounds realistic... after the first chapter anyway XP so... what do you think?

I'll have up MaL next


	6. Ready, Set, BLOW!

m'kay, this and chapter seven were originally one, but that was WAY too long. soooo... that's the only reason I'm doing two for this. ...I didn't feel like translating again, so... yeah, you don't get to know what they say. Altough... I'll probably tell you later anyway...

and don't take the title the wrong way XD

* * *

Naruto gaped as he took in the area around him. He knew the building was big from the outside, but really now... The place looked like the woods for God's sake. Maybe that's why the equiptment room looked like crap: they spent their budget on this. The trees looked real enough. Hell, they probably were. The ground was even covered in leaves and dried out grass. The room had just enough light to make it look eerie.

As much as it killed him to admit it, Naruto did not like the idea of wandering around in the dark woods... that he knew nothing about... which probably had obstacles knowing these people... who were going to be shooting at him... He tugged at Sasuke's vest from behind.

"What?" he asked, turning around to walk backwards. Naruto nagged him about it being dangerous, but he just waved it off.

"How are we doing this?" the blonde asked, careful to disguise his slight worry.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean teams wise. Are there any? Or... Am I just killing you all?"

Sasuke scowled at him as he kept walking, boots cracking twigs every now and then. "I doubt you'd be able to, but no. There aren't any teams when we play."

"Really?"

"Really. You can form an alliance though. That's probably why Hyuuga wanted me to come."

Naruto brooded for a second, thinking about what the outcome of the whole thing would be like. His mind, imaginative as it was, took him way out of comfort zone. He could see Gaara sneaking up on him in the dark arena. The redhead would pounce on him, making him succumb to his charms again. But not before Naruto screamed in surprise. Neji would hear that with his inhuman senses and make his way over. By the time he made it, Gaara would've gotten their shirts off as well as their hats. Neji would shoot at the smaller boy, just missing and grazing Naruto's precious, tanned-ness. Going based on other reactions he'd seen, Naruto thought he'd scream at the sudden unexpected pain. That would get Sasuke on the move. He'd show up in his wrath-of-the-emo-ness and shoot everyone until he was completely out of pellets. Then, he'd drag Gaara off somewhere and kill him. He might come back for Neji while he had the chance.

Naruto covered his mouth with his free hand and lurched forward a bit as he heaved. A worried sweat broke out on his forehead. That could happen. It really _really_ could happen. He did think it up; he knew he wasn't the smartest person after all. He felt sick and suddenly didn't want to go through with the wretched game. He much preferred paintball at the moment.

"...You alright, koi?" Sasuke asked. Naruto had forgotten all about him-- even if he was right in front of him. "You look like you need to puke... and not like you normally do either."

_You noticed that, huh?_ Naruto thought grimly to himself. He was sure no one took note of his waves of nausia as they fought over him like vultures at a carcass. "I'm fine," he said at last.

"...You sure?" Sasuke used one of his hands to wipe at Naruto's forehead. The tiny beads of cold persperation came off at the first sign of his fingers. He frowned at them. "Do you want to do teams? You can stick with me."

"Oh that is _not_ fair," Neji said from behind the blondie. "We haven't played teams since we were kids. And if we do it now, why do you get to have him?"

"... You really want reasons?" Sasuke asked from the front of the line. "Alright fine. For one, I'm not completely driven by lust. If he's not with it, I doubt I'll be on him. Gaara? I don't think he'd care much."

"And me?" Neji asked quirking a brow. "Last time I checked, I'm the only one who hasn't ravished him so far."

Sasuke felt his eyes narrow in anger towards his cousin. "Maybe. But there's a tiny fact that says I'm better suited at the moment."

"And what's that?"

Sasuke switched over to to a different language that Naruto didn't know. When he was done speaking in the foreign tongue, he turned back around, pleased at the world again. Naruto turned to look at Neji and saw that he was mortified. He was actually red. And apparently Gaara understood whatever was said because he was laughing it up at the back of the line. Turning back around, Naruto tugged on Sasuke again.

"Hn?"

"...What did you say, Sasuke?"

He just smirked at the blonde from over his shoulder. "Don't worry about it," he said, shifting his gun to his other hand. He used the newly freed right one to pull Naruto next to him. "Maybe we should teach you French."

"...What the hell d'you know French for?" Naruto asked.

"Same reason we know English and Spanish. They're used often in business."

"Oh..." Naruto looked back at Neji again. He still hadn't paled back to his normal complextion. "So what'd you say?"

"Do you honestly want to know?" Sasuke asked with a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Yeah."

Sasuke leaned over a bit to whisper in his ear. "I think I'll keep it from you then."

"That is _not_ nice," Naruto whined. "You were talking about me, weren't you?"

"Ask Hyuuga then," Sasuke said, looking behind them. "He might tell you."

"Neji?" Naruto called hopefully behind him.

The older boy just shook his head with emberassment. "No thanks."

"Red?" he called to Gaara. "Will you tell me?"

Gaara sent him a smile. "As much as I'd love to, it's not my business, hun. Sorry."

Naruto turned back around, hardly caring that Sasuke had an arm over his shoulders. Damned bastards wouldn't tell him what they said. That was okay though, he'd force it out of them sooner or later.

Presently though, he wasn't feeling so great. He lurched forward again. Apparently, his cold sweat wasn't just a result of worry.

"Alright?" Sasuke asked from next to him.

Naruto shook his head. "Vomit..."

"N-now?! Why?!" Sasuke cried. "You haven't even eaten anything!!"

"I don't think my stomach cares," Naruto countered. "Gimme a spot... _now_."

Sasuke looked around as they came to a stop. He couldn't find any clearings. And there weren't baggies. So what the hell was he supposed to do? Then he remembered something. Itachi once told him that they used to turn up the lights for parties in the room that the teens currently took over. Searching frantically, Sasuke dashed into the trees and came back a few seconds later with a trashcan.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Neji asked, still a tad pink.

"It was in a corner," the Uchiha said with a shrug. "Guess they missed it during the last clean up."

"Not complaining," Naruto said. He long since dropped his riffle and clutched his stomach. Me made his way to the can and disappeared into the many trees with it. The other three occupants of the building stood, looking back and forth amongst each other. After two long, awkward minutes, Naruto came back, happy smile in place again.

"What the hell got you sick?" Sasuke asked from his spot. He tossed Naruto his riffle, and the other boy caught it with ease.

"I dunno. Suggestions anyone?"

"Where'd you say he came from?" Neji asked.

"New York," Naruto declared.

"The weather," Neji said as if it were nothing. "It's much colder there this time of year. The sudden change threw him out of whack."

"You're too smart for your own good," Sasuke said, pushing his cousin away a little with his foot. He smirked when he added, "At least in everything that doesn't revolve around commen sense, that is. Like why you can't partner up with him."

Neji blushed again, looking away with a terrifying grimace set on his features. He looked like a pissed teenage girl that wasn't allowed to get the puppy she wanted because daddy didn't want it home. "You really are an evil bastard."

"Oh get over it. You're older, be mature." He didn't get much of a response from his cousin other than a scoff. "Oh right. So, dobe, do you want to do teams?"

Naruto grumbled to himself as he thought about it. If, for some reason, he got sick again, he wouldn't be able to fend off Gaara or Neji. He could get Sasuke to stop, but he might be annoying to sit with for all that time. But, if they played on singles, he was sure he'd be seriously assaulted. They couldn't see his hair under that cap, after all.

An angry red of embarrassment speckled itself across his cheeks when he came to his decision. He didn't like it, but it was for the best. "Be a team with me, Sasuke."

Neji still hadn't recovered from his fluster, so they didn't hear anything out of him. But Gaara heaved an audible sigh from behind the long haired brunette. The youngest of the rich bastards just smiled.

"Fine," he said. "Hyuuga, you've got Gaara. The desrtuction-point is fifteen. Everyone keep tabs on who you hit."

Naruto looked utterly confused. His stereotype was catching up to him. "... The what? What the hell is a destruction point?"

"It's the limit to how many times you're hit before you're out," Sasuke explained. Naruto just looked pissed. "What?"

"You really expect me, of all people, to remember three numbers without getting them mixed up?"

"You wouldn't have to," Sasuke sighed, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Just in case, we won't have one... even though you don't have to worry about your destruction-point."

"And why's that?"

"...I'm your partner, idiot. I don't lose this game."

"Haughty bitch, teme," Naruto said, smacking the other teen's hand away. "But whatever. Let's start."

He wasn't expecting his company to disappear at the word. When he looked around only to see trees and dirt, he wanted to scream. Plopping down on the spot, Naruto wallowed in his misery. What the hell was he supposed to do?

"Idiot," he heard from behind him. He jumped at the voice and turned around almost instantly. He was relieved to see it was just Sasuke.

Still, he wasn't giving the brunette the luxury of seeing him glad about his presence. "I'm not an idiot."

"Sure you aren't," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes while he extended a hand out to the blonde. "Just get up before they come back."

Still scowling at his evil fiancé, Naruto took his hand and let him help him up. "Thanks," he mumbled, sending his gaze somewhere else.

"It isn't so dark that I can't see you blush," Sasuke boasted. "You aren't still scared, are you?"

"Who said I was scared?!" the blonde cried, giving his attention back to Sasuke.

"Don't shout," the older teen ordered. "And you did. When we came in here you started looking like you wanted to leave. So tell me, are you still afraid of the dim and grim forest?" He sneered into Naruto's face when he looked away.

"You're a real ass, you know that?" Naruto sloshed his saliva around a bit before spitting it out on the ground. When Sasuke gave him a confused look, he said, "I thought it'd be gross considering how I just up chucked my stomach."

"What?"

"And you say I'm an idiot," Naruto scoffed, rolling his eyes. Before Sasuke could say something again, making him change his mind, Naruto leaned over a bit and pressed his lips to the brunette's cheek. Hell, everyone was kissing him anyway, so did it really matter? It was more like a reward thing than something special anymore.

When he separated from Sasuke, Naruto said, "You're the only one who noticed so..."

It was Sasuke's turn to blush as he grabbed Naruto by the wrist. "J-just come on!!" he barked, dragging him through the trees. The blonde couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction. It looked like Sasuke took a better liking to getting those from him than the insults.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

why'd he get sick? because I needed a reason for teams. Why a reason for teams? go read seven.


	7. I Like You Dammit!

...go read six if you missed it.

now-- for those who don't get it at first ((because i have gotten complaints believe it or not)) they're in a tree dammit. I mean... really. Okay, I know that you can very easily distinguish a smack from a hit with an airsoft gun... or paintball gun... but for the sake of fanfiction, lets just say that they can't because it's from a long range... yeah, that works. ...and Gaara's an idiot. Sorry. As much as I love him, he needs to be.

* * *

"Stop moving!!" Sasuke ordered from his perch above Naruto. He used his feet to re-steady the blonde on his branch. Naruto just hugged the trunk of the tree like all that was dear to him.

"Did we really have to come up so high?" he whimpered. "What if I fall? Who the hell is gonna catch me?"

"I will," the brunette said, rolling his eyes. With a sigh, he propped up his gun on the trunk of the tree and grabbed his branch. Using a quick swing, he was upside down, holding on by his knees. "Stop whining about it," he hissed in Naruto's ear. The blonde wasn't expecting it, so he jumped in fright at the sudden icy voice.

"C-cut it out!!" Naruto bit back. "Oh my god... I don't like heights!!"

"Really?"

"Really!!" Naruto shouted letting go of the tree. Balling up his fists he added, "I told you that before you dragged me up here! You should've seen me on the plane..."

Sasuke let a low chuckle out and pushed the blonde a little. Even that easy motion sent him into a panic attack. His face was held in place by a silent scream as he struggled to stay on the single branch. Naruto didn't have the agility to catch himself if he fell. And his brain was gone since he was scared shitless. It finally occurred to him that he could grab the branch he was on. Doing so, he dug his nails into the bark and bit back his cry.

"Oh man... You seriously need help koi." He didn't get a real response from Naruto, just a tearful noise. "...You are _not_ crying..."

"I'm not!!" the blonde shouted back, staring at the floor far, far below him. "I think I'm gonna be sick..."

"No you aren't," Sasuke said. It sounded like a demand.

"I-it's an expression..."

"Regardless, don't use it..." Again, Naruto said nothing. He just held on to his deathly seat with all he was worth.

Sasuke grunted as he swung himself back up to his own branch. He looked around the area twice before going back down beside the younger teen.

"Dobe," he said, "come sit with me."

Naruto turned to him with sick horror written all over his face. "That's even higher..."

"Then I'll push you off," Sasuke said, nudging him forward a bit. Another terrified sound escaped him as he barely got his grip back. He held on until his knuckles were white this time.

"Don't do that Sasuke..." he said, pale in the face."I'll die."

"Then get up here," the raven said, grabbing Naruto by the shoulders. When the blonde nodded, he let go. Naruto gave him a shaky hand to steady him out as he got to his wobbly feet. Once he was there, Sasuke helped him up the rest of the way.

Naruto actually felt a bit better sitting between Sasuke and the trunk... even if it was higher up. At least he couldn't fall sideways. He grabbed the back of Sasuke's vest and held on to the tree with the other. He still stared down between his feet at the expertly placed shrubbery.

"Feel any better?" Sasuke asked from next to him.

Naruto looked up, a bit puzzled. He'd forgotten about him again. He nodded a bit before returning his gaze to the floor of the man made arena. He was still uneasy, no matter how safe he knew he was.

Sasuke sighed and rubbed at his back. Had he not been there, he would've found it hard to believe it that Naruto was able to mercilessly shoot at him. He was such a baby about some things. When Sasuke felt Naruto's hyperventilation fade, however, he took it back.

"I can't believe you brought me up here," the blonde growled out, still staring between his feet. When he turned to look at Sasuke, however, his teeth were bared, and he had a grimace of hate in place of the scared one from only a few moments ago. Sasuke took his hand off the boy's back.

"S-sorry...?"

Naruto let go of Sasuke in turn and made it so that his hand only rested on the tree. With that same loathing grimace, he shot a look at the brunette that clearly read: death-- death unto you. "I will kill you when this is over."

"Wh... why?"

"I told you I fucking hate heights!! And you dragged me up the damn thing anyway!!" the blonde shouted. Yes, shouted. He remembered why he was in the tree in the first place and lowered his voice a bit. He leaned over to glare Sasuke right in the face. "I hate you..."

"Naruto... you're going to make me fall," the raven said, looking down at the ground below him. Funny... he'd never been scared up a tree before...

"Well maybe I should," Naruto said, taking his hand off the tree. He put both in front of him and turned so that he was sitting saddle-style on the branch. Leaning over again, he added, "It wouldn't be so bad, don't you think?"

Sasuke shook his head, inching away from the daredevil blonde. When had he gotten comfortable enough to move around on the tree? He was just freaking out on him for touching him, wasn't he?

"Naruto... cut it out," the brunette managed to choke out. He was starting to see how Naruto felt on the branch under him. "I-I'll leave you up here."

"To Hell you will!!" the blonde shouted. His outburst broke him out of his sudden bravery as he looked down again. He froze up in terror once more. Eyes wide and mouth open, he looked at his new position. Apparently, instinct was spurring him along while he terrorized Sasuke. Now that he was normal again, Naruto did not want to move. He fell forward and wrapped around the tree branch like his life depended on it. Which it kind of did.

Sasuke let out a breath of air when Naruto finished antagonizing him. He looked at the blonde thing in front of him and scoffed. Prying his fingers apart from under the branch, Sasuke sat him up, and he managed to push him up against the tree trunk again. Naruto hugged it.

"Don't move this time," Sasuke said. He grabbed his riffle from between the blonde and the tree and held it. Slipping to his knees again, he started doing inverted pull ups to pass the time. He was sure Neji had heard Naruto shout; hell, who couldn't? So, it was just a while until he had to actually shoot at people.

After he'd finally reached forty-seven, he saw something from the corner of his eye. Getting back to his normal position on the branch, Sasuke looked down on whatever it was. He saw Neji with Gaara following a few feet behind him. He quickly told Naruto to keep his mouth shut before hanging upside down again. He waited for the older brunette and the redhead to step into a clear-shot area. Once they did, Sasuke aimed it so that he shot Neji in the back.

He watched as he turned to only see Gaara. The girly boy looked more than surprised when he registered that he was being scolded. Sasuke couldn't hear them, but he was sure that Neji thought his partner smacked him on the back. Based on the expression Gaara gave him, Sasuke guessed that he was a fair bit more than pissed at the accusation.

Standing, Sasuke made his way to another branch so that he could hit Gaara. His pellet got him in the back of the knee. Instinct says that, when you get hit, you flinch away from the pain. Gaara however, bent his leg and turned to see what the hell it was. While he was facing the other way, and Neji was looking with him, Sasuke got back to his branch with Naruto. He shot Gaara in the back of the head.

When he turned around and caught sight of Neji, Sasuke had to at least chuckle. He loved seeing how he could pit them against each other after only three shots. Sure his brother could get it in one, but who cared about rank right now?

Sasuke shot the next pellet in some bushes, making them rustle. Both boys turned to look, so he shot each of them in the ass. Gaara and Neji dropped their guns and transferred their hands to their backside at the same time. They looked at each other, appalled and blushing. Sasuke chuckled again. Maybe he could get them away from Naruto while playing his twisted game... Nah, that wouldn't work.

While those two babbled at each other in a confused kind of anger, Sasuke hung his gun and turned to Naruto. "Do you want to try?" he asked. When he didn't get an answer, he grabbed the blonde, much against his will, and somehow got him in front of him. Naruto instantly went into panic mode, but, before he screamed, Sasuke sat down behind him. He pinned the blonde in place with his knees and held on to him. He clapped one hand over his mouth.

"Easy," he said in the blonde's ear. When Naruto nodded, Sasuke let him go. He pulled his gun free of his makeshift hook and offered it to the younger teen. Helping him aim it, because he was still shaking, he asked, "Who do you want to hit?"

Naruto swallowed down the hoarseness in his throat before giving an answer. "R-red."

"What do you want to see him do?" the brunette asked, in his ear again.

"I... I don't care."

Sasuke groaned from behind him. "Oh come on... He just stole you in the supply room, and you don't care?"

Naruto thought about it. Even in his horrified state, he could remember when the redhead tricked him into a kiss. Then he remembered what Neji said about him when Sasuke kissed him too. "I changed my mind," he said finally.

"Okay...?"

"I wanna hit Neji. And I want him to fall into Red."

Sasuke was taken back. It looked to him like Naruto was keen on seeing them lock lips too. Smiling to himself, Sasuke nodded and rested his chin on Naruto's shoulder. He helped him aim the riffle at Neji's kneecap before he told his fiancé that he could pull the trigger. When Neji bent his knee a bit, Sasuke immediately guided Naruto so that he aimed at Neji's ankle. Once it hit, he did, in fact, fall over. He landed on Gaara, sending them both crashing to the floor.

Naruto giggled to himself when he saw them both sputter, gawking at each other in their heap on the dirt when Neji pulled his lips away from the shocked redhead. When they got up, dusting themselves off and still blushing at the awkward tension, they retrieved their guns. They held them out in front of them as they walked away, backward, from the large tree that the odd couple inhabited.

Neji shouted, "Dammit Uchiha!!" as they went into the bushes. "You play around with your brother too much!!" And then he and his teammate were gone.

"Good job for a _real_ first try," Sasuke said from his spot on Naruto.

"What?" the blonde said, mock innocence in his voice. "Hitting you doesn't count?"

"No," the brunette growled on the tanned shoulder. "I don't think it does."

"Fine," Naruto said, knocking his head into Sasuke's. "Then neither does your attack on me after Red."

Sasuke scowled at the leaves in front of him. "Does the one from when we came in?"

"Yes," the blonde sighed, rolling his eyes to high Heaven.

"Then I need one that does too." He squeezed Naruto, pressing the riffle into his chest. The blonde's breath escaped him, so he turned around to whine about it. That was a bad choice on his part. Sasuke pushed their lips together. This time, however, he didn't practically kill him with forcefulness. Instead, it was soft, just a brush that put a tint on his pale cheeks.

He let Naruto go, but he still kept him in place with his legs so that he wouldn't rock off of the tree.

"Are you... Sasuke, you're blushing..."

"Shut up..."

"But it's cute," Naruto giggled. He poked the pale-pink teen in the cheek. "I don't think it's just my impertinence you like, teme."

Sasuke blushed harder and turned away, taking his chin from its seat on Naruto's shoulder. "Shut it..."

"Mm... I don't want to. If I'm doomed to live with you, you could at least let me talk."

Sasuke growled, still red in the face. "Whatever..."

"Can you not speak when you're flushed?" Naruto asked. He got a grunt, so his lip twisted itself into a pout. "You're so annoying sometimes." He leaned over a bit, not too much since he was afraid of falling, and kissed Sasuke on his already burning cheek. "Now... Get me out of this damn tree?"

Sasuke nodded and stood, taking Naruto's hand as he did so. He didn't speak as he put both riffles on his arm by the shoulder strap. While he worked his way down the tree, guiding Naruto on the way, he kept glancing around to make sure that no one was in the area. When they finally dropped to the floor again, Naruto jumped in absolute bliss. He stopped just long enough to hug Sasuke and grab his riffle. He bounded off in some direction to show back up from behind the tree they were in. When he ran past again, Sasuke grabbed him.

"Calm down," he ground out. Naruto brooded, coming to a stop. "Are you finished?"

"Quite."

"Alright then. Let's go find them, and finish this damn game please?"

Naruto made a noise. For a guy that was just beet red, Sasuke sure was pushy. Even Neji took way longer to get over his fluster. "You don't like me much, do you?" he asked over his shoulder.

"E-excuse me?"

Naruto sighed before getting out of Sasuke's hold. Putting on a cheesy grin, he said, "Nevermind. Come on." He grabbed Sasuke hand and started pulling him through the vegetation.

Sasuke took a few seconds to process what had happened. What did he mean when he asked him that? Of course he liked the idiot. He wouldn't be there if he didn't. So why ask such a stupid question?

"Why'd you ask me that?" the brunette nearly whispered.

"Huh?"

"Why did you ask me that question?" Sasuke ground out. "It isn't normal to bring something like that up."

Naruto stopped, letting the pale hand slip from his fingers. He turned around to look at the raven-haired teen before him and put his gun down.

"Uhm... depressed?" Sasuke asked, a bit shocked. He put his gun down too when he didn't get an answer. "Are you sick again?" He put a hand to Naruto's forehead.

"No," the blonde said, smacking it away. "And cut it out. Obviously, you don't care much. So I'm better off without the little spurts of affection."

"...Excuse me?" Sasuke quirked a brow and crossed his arms. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm used to people thinking I'm something nice to look at, and that's fine." He kicked their guns over to a nearby tree so he could step closer to the scowling brunette. "I don't need you pretending to like me too, though. It just makes things worse."

"And... you think I'm pretending... why?"

"No one's liked me before," the blonde said with a shrug. "Besides, you act like you hate it half the time."

"Oh, yeah." Sasuke rolled his eyes and uncrossed his arms. "I absolutely hate it because I don't like people seeing me pink, right?"

"...Say what?"

Sasuke turned up his nose as that same dreaded color possessed him again. Looking away, he said, "Sure, you're nice to look at, I won't lie about that, but honestly, would I be sitting here worried if that was all? I know it's only been a short while, but be serious, koi. Why the hell would I even take time to explain it to you if I didn't like you?"

"Y... you mean that?" the blonde teen asked, hope evident in his tone.

"You sound like it's that foreign a concept to you," the older boy said. He sent him a side glance over his pink cheeks. "Really, idiot, I like you. If I didn't, I wouldn't let you touch me."

Sasuke was shocked when his back hit the tree that their guns were under. He wasn't expecting Naruto to shove him against the hard bark, so his breath was lost for an instant. When he got it back, he was staring into glassy blue eyes that scared him a little.

"Na... Naruto..."

"Do you actually mean that?" the blonde asked with a slight hint of hysteria. "You don't just want to fuck me like Red? And you don't just want to piss someone off like Neji? You really like me?"

"I... Y-yeah. I really do," Sasuke said. "The hell are you getting at?"

"Sasuke..." Naruto pulled Sasuke slack from the tree and slammed him into it again. He coughed this time. "Don't lie to me dammit!!"

"Fuck!! You think I'd lie if you hurt me every time?!" Sasuke managed to straighten himself out against the tree and braced himself for another slam. "I mean it, Uzumaki!! I don't know why you can't grasp that, but I do!!"

"Sasuke..."

_God... here it comes..._ Sasuke held his breath as he was sure he'd be assaulted again. But, to his surprise, it never came. He cracked open an eye to look at the younger teen in front of him. He was a little more than shocked to see that he was crying. Crying!! After something like that, you wouldn't think he'd be upset. But no; he was just letting the water works flow like there was no tomorrow.

Naruto sniffed once before looking up at Sasuke. His blue eyes sparkled with the tears that poured out no matter how hard he tried to reign them back in. Though he was bawling soundlessly, his face betrayed the emotion that generally comes along with crying because he looked happy.

_Happy? He's happy..._ Sasuke eased his tensed muscles and let out his breath. He gave Naruto one look before turning away again. That damn color got him another time. And he didn't even know the reason for it. But maybe, just maybe, it was because Naruto's smile was different from the other ones he'd seen on his whiskered face. It wasn't overly stressed or forced. It was just... there. And it was almost pretty through the veil of tears that framed it.

"Sasuke," Naruto said again. He chuckled to himself when he just got a snort. With that chuckle still carrying in his voice, he said, "Would you just look at me, dammit?"

Sasuke turned his head just a slight fraction and looked at Naruto over his still pink cheeks. "What."

"All the way."

"Why?"

"Just do it?" Naruto had stopped sniffling, so Sasuke figured it was okay. When he did, Naruto gripped the front of his vest, sending him into instant panic. The blonde laughed when he caught the scared look on Sasuke's face. "Calm down," he said, pulling the brunette away from the tree. When Sasuke was standing on his own, Naruto wrapped his arms loosely around his waist.

"...What?" Sasuke asked, getting brighter in the dimly lit arena as time wore on.

"I still say you're cute when you blush."

"Stop saying that!!" Sasuke nearly whined. "Honestly, dobe!! Last I checked, I was your senior. You have no right to--!!" Sasuke was cut off by the blonde for the second time. But, unlike in the supply room, it wasn't with words. Naruto had put their lips together again instead of using a sharp retort. Sasuke could feel the unshed tears sitting on Naruto's lashes as they brushed against his cheeks. And he was surprised to find that Naruto was actually squeezing him.

Pulling him closer, if possible, Naruto ran his tongue over Sasuke's pale lips. The older boy, though stunned for a few seconds, put his arms around Naruto's neck as he parted them for him, only slightly so he didn't scare him off. Although, that wouldn't have really mattered to Naruto. He darted his wet appendage into Sasuke's mouth and lapped at all the crevices, relentlessly exploring him over and over. After all, he'd refused him earlier.

When he finally got something that sounded like a purr from Sasuke, Naruto let his lips free.

"What...?" Sasuke whined.

"We have to breathe," the blonde giggled. "Besides, I'm guessing you didn't notice, but you're lovely cousin and your housemate are in the bushes."

"...What?!" Sasuke jumped out of Naruto's embrace and grabbed his gun from the ground. Pointing it at the bushes Naruto had nodded to, he said, "Get your asses out here..."

"Calm down, calm down," Neji said, standing with his hands up in surrender. Gaara followed suit. "We just didn't want to ruin anything. That's all. We aren't so heartless."

Sasuke dropped his gun to the ground again and sent his cousin a death-glare.

"Hey, don't kill me yet," the older brunette said. He dropped his hands and turned his gaze over to Naruto. "And by the way, Naru-chan..."

"Huh?"

"That was very wrong. Who says I'm after you just to piss my little ninja off, huh?"

"...And you?" Naruto asked, gesturing toward Gaara.

He wasn't paying attention. He'd found a snail making its way up a nearby tree and chose to focus on that. When Naruto called out to him again, however, he snapped back to reality. "What?"

"Was my assumption right for you, Red?" Naruto asked, kicking a pebble he saw near his toe.

"...Oh! No, no. It wasn't... And I can't believe you'd think something like that of me." He fluttered a hand to his forehead and pretended to swoon. Neji caught his dramatically in his fake faint.

"Oh do tell," Neji crooned, overworking his concern just a bit.

"Only to get in your pants?" the redhead cried. "Maybe at first, Blondie, but I love how you'll stand up to anyone. I'm appalled that you'd think I only wanted sex."

"Don't you normally though?" Neji asked, standing him up only to pull him to his chest. "Tell me, has he changed you?"

"I think he has, fellow martyr."

"Oh drop it," Naruto said, laughing at the show. "Your acting's terrible."

"Gotta give it to us for trying though," Neji said, letting go of the smaller boy. "Besides, we only had about half a minute."

"Whate_ver_," Naruto said, waving a hand at them.

"Got you to laugh, didn't it?" Gaara said from next to the tall brunette.

"Are you all missing something?" Sasuke asked, interrupting the friendly chat. "Or.. am I just paranoid?"

"..." The other three looked around for a while. Sasuke was paranoid... But, that wouldn't be nice to say. Especially for their wellbeing.

"Since when are the two of you friends?" he asked, using his palm to point out Gaara and Neji. They looked at each other from the side before turning, back-to-back, with a rosy stain high on their cheeks. "Uh... well?"

"Well... After you so _graciously_ assaulted us," Neji started. "...Well, it took us a while to figure out that you really did."

"...You shouted at me before you left," Sasuke said.

"Yeah... But that was to reassure myself," his cousin said. He turned so that he was facing them normally again. "While we were shouting at each other on the other side of the arena, we kind of... thought... well, what you wanted us to."

"...Oh... That's right!!" Naruto exclaimed. "I got you two to kiss." He pulled a toothy grin as they both stared at him in amazement.

"You?!" they both cried out.

"I was mad at you," the blonde said with a pout set on his lips. "And I wasn't in the best of spirits. Sasuke had me in an awful place…"

"And you don't need to know where it is," Sasuke added. "That's the marksman's lookout. You have to find it yourself."

"You suck," Gaara said, turning to his snail again. He was surprised to see it was gone.

"So… We're just sitting here," Naruto said, looking around at his company. "Should we just stop? Considering my vomit, I'm more than hungry."

"That's right," Neji said in a rather bored tone. "I grabbed you two right after you left the room, didn't I?" He sighed before looking at the riffles by his feet. Picking one up he said, "Sure. We used all of our pellets anyway."

"…Really?" Naruto asked. "How?"

"Shooting everything we heard in extreme paranoia after your little attack."

"And each other," Gaara said.

"….Well, alright… I guess that means we win." The blonde scratched at his head to run through it one more time. "Yeah, it does. So let's go eat!!" He grabbed Sasuke, hooking his elbow around his waist, and dragged him away, beckoning for the other two to follow.

From behind the happy little couple, Neji snorted. "I can't believe this."

"I know," the redhead said from next to him. "Uchiha giving in to submission? I'm shocked."

"No you idiot." Neji grabbed the smaller boy and pulled him over. "I meant Naru-chan actually falling for the little bastard."

"…Oh."

Neji rolled his eyes and let his housemate go. "Oh you are so dense."

"I am not," the pretty teen growled. "Now, don't you think we should do something about this? It bothers you, doesn't it?"

Neji just looked at his comrade in total disgust at how much of an idiot he was. "As much as it bothers me, I don't think we should do anything," he said finally. Gaara just shrugged, so Neji kept thinking to himself. Maybe he could get help from someone other than the idiot redhead. After all, working with him was bound to make things even more difficult.

* * *

yeah... jus tlike in MaL, Neji is conspiring against them... only it doesn't take 25 chapters to get there:D yay!! uhm... I told you Gaara was an idiot. I even gave him the short attention span... and... why don't ppl like Naruto this time? He's not a prostitute. And I have a real reason. You just have to wait until Sasuke asks him. m'kay? laterrrrrr 


	8. Accomplice

woot... did it in one day -.-

suuuuu... Neji is recruiting Itachi!! XP yeah... because Gaara needs to do something else in this lovely ficcy of mine. Have fun reading

* * *

Itachi scoffed from his spot behind the desk in his room. The idea his much younger cousin presented him with was an absolute absurdity. Since when was it even characteristic for someone like himself to 'meddle' in affairs? It just didn't suit him. And on top of that, he wanted to go against Sasuke? That just didn't sit well with the older brunette.

"I refuse," he said flatly, never leaving the page in his book.

"Why?"

The question was blunt, straight forward and vague enough to get any answer. So Itachi just said, "I don't want to."

Neji scowled at him from his seat on the plush bed. Uchihas were always just too difficult for his taste. He didn't like using his brain at home. He much preferred to wrack his grey matter for more worthy things; like school. Sighing raggedly, kick-starting his brain, Neji amended his statement.

"Why don't you want to?"

Itachi closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. Keeping his place in his book with a manicured nail, he gave Neji a deathly glare over the rim of his reading glasses. "Do I honestly need a reason?"

Neji, much against his better judgment, nodded like a stubborn child. "Give me a good one, too."

Again, Itachi sighed, this time reaching out to grab at an abandoned bookmark. He slid the place holder between the crisp pages of his tacky romance novel and snapped it shut. Agitation claiming his fine features, he gave Neji his undivided attention.

"Why would I want to intervene with someone else's life? Mine is enough to worry about." He sent the younger brunette a hard stare before turning completely in his swivel-chair. He crossed his limbs, slightly miffed when Neji didn't leave due to the single gesture.

"But it's Sasuke," the teen pressed. "Your Sasuke, dammit!!"

Itachi scoffed again, this time turning up his nose to focus on a corner rather than the rant he knew was coming.

Neji took note, but he continued anyway. "Everyone knows that you loved the four of us when we were kids. Why the hell are you acting like you don't care now? I know you're positively irate at the fact that he just might be getting married and leaving his precious 'Onii-chan.' Stop cowering behind the pretense of 'self-righteousness' and admit it. You want the hitch halted just like I do."

"...Are you finished?" Itachi asked, untangling his arms to support his head with an elbow on the desk. He kept his gaze on the same unoccupied corner of the ceiling.

"I've got one more statement," Neji said, making a point of it by sticking a finger into the air, much like the professors he saw during his studies. "Sasuke's practically run by Naru-chan. If you give him the opportunity, he could very easily turn your little brother against you. Think about it: sixteen long years wasted because a tiny nuisance from the past wanted to come back. Didn't you like it so much more when we were just idiotic infants lolling about in the nursery? When you could just pick us up and make us stop crying? We've all heard the stories, and--"

"I thought you said one more statement, cousin."

"Did it get to you that badly?" Neji teased. He swung his feet idly while they hung over the edge of the bed. "Maybe this'll help coax you too then. Sasuke's not the only one who's fallen for Naru-chan. Gaara and me, too. Does that bring back any memories? I've seen the tapes, Uchiha. Maybe they haven't, but I actually look around that room we call a family library. Old archives are everywhere. I've seen the home movies with the four of us waddling around. You tailed after us, always looking worried. I'm sure you'd hate to see us pitted against each other because of one stupid circumstance."

"...You must be done now," Itachi said, flexing his free hand absentmindedly. He hadn't realized it was clenched until Neji paused in his tirade. The sting of white knuckles where the skin stretched over them met up with his brain when he pulled out of his old memories. He thought about them often, but it wasn't out of spite like now; when someone else evoked them.

"I don't think so." Neji stopped kicking his feet, gripping at the sheets under his palms. He knew enough of Itachi to know when he was on the verge of cracking. Which could be good or bad, but he was willing to take a chance. "It's tearing us apart, Itachi. Think about it. I'm constantly bickering with Sasuke. Naru-chan is snubbing nearly everyone that approaches him. I'm not too sure about Gaara, but he's an idiot. He'd probably get himself killed because he throws a hissy-fit over something like catching Sasuke and Naru-chan in the hall together."

"... Through?"

"When's the last time Sasuke spent time with you these past two days?"

Itachi bristled at the sudden change in subject. It was subtle, but it caught him off guard; he was sure Neji saw the slight flinch.

"We've gone plenty without speaking," the older of the two said, his voice barely doing justice to the icy contempt he felt toward the boy. He just didn't feel like he could get enough loathing into his tone. Neji, however, caught it quite well. It looked like his older cousin went rigid then tensed further into a state of suspended animation. He looked like he could be chiseled from stone save for his blinking eyes and moving lips.

"Sasuke and I have been able to keep up a respectable bond without the hassle of communication." Itachi kept his coal like eyes intently on the corner of the room, unmoving as ugly thoughts passed through his mind. He conjured up a few choice ways to get Neji's mouth shut. "We tend to speak when the time serves. When he doesn't feel like it, I don't pressure."

"Save it," Neji said, waving a hand to dismiss the unwelcome atmosphere. He just couldn't shake the feeling that Itachi wanted him dead. "You relish in it when you're able to just prattle away with him in some room where other people can't see you two getting along. I've caught you and him together a few times in the past. You're in a complete daze after--"

"Get out."

Neji couldn't help but blink. The sudden interruption to his thought process left him dumbfounded as he tried to shake his astonishment. When Itachi's voice cut into his, it sounded like blatant hostility; a razor pressed against his throat, begging him to go on so it could make its move to end him.

"Are you deaf, Hyuuga?" Itachi finally detached his gaze from the ceiling corner and shot it in Neji's direction. "Get out," he repeated.

"Why so sudden?" Neji asked, wavering slightly. Hostility radiated off of the man sitting across from him. He was far enough away to seem harmless, but the icy leer he shot at his cousin just screamed detest. Ignoring it to the best of his abilities, Neji went on. "Did I strike a nerve raw?"

"Neji," the cold man said, careful not to sound lethal though he presently wanted to pound the pretty face into the pillows. That would work; no one could hear him scream as he broke his bones.

Neji got the idea in his head that Itachi was thinking up ways to slaughter him without notice when the man stopped talking. His normally resolute gaze had become misty, and a slight smirk managed to slink passed his defense and settle on his lips. That sent Neji into a rather unnerved state. His courage had deserted him.

"…Yes?" the boy asked after the silence became menacing. He didn't like thinking someone was after his life whilst in the room with them.

"…Are you scared?" Itachi asked. His knuckles no longer ached, so he worked on studying his nails.

"What?"

"You look ridiculously childish right now," the man said. The venom he held had started to fade, but it was still noticeable. So Neji opted to play along by giving him confused silence. "More so cute rather than curious though. You were always adorable when you were scared, Neji."

"Uh… Sure," the teen said, shifting on the bed. He heard it groan slightly, when he scooted back, and couldn't help but wonder why. None of the beds creaked in the rest of the mansion. Even the guest beds were silent.

"It's from extra weight."

Neji hadn't noticed that he'd spoken his question out loud. When he got an answer to it though, he couldn't help but ask what he meant.

"It's self explanatory. Extra weight's worn out the springs."

"From… what?" Neji asked, a bit over perplexed.

"I think that would fall under the category: none of your business." Itachi puffed out a breath at the bangs that had fallen into his face. "Now tell me, why are you still here when you're scared shitless?"

Neji attempted to scowl at the man, but he failed. The impassive leer he received kicked aside his feigned murderous intent, and he was left to squirm under Itachi's powerful gaze.

Looking away to distract himself, he said, "I'm determined."

"But I told you to leave. This is --what? -- the fourth time I've implied it?"

"You'll have to make me," the younger brunette said, feeling himself flinch as he knew the death-ray aimed toward him was intensified ten-fold. "I won't leave until you drag me out or agree to be my accomplice."

"Albeit I'm impressed, little cousin…" Itachi rose from his chair and slid his book into a drawer on the desk. Neji was sure the ball of nausea he swallowed was visible when the man turned to him again. "I must say, your brazenness greatly tests my patience."

"Everything tests your patience," Neji mumbled. He was sure Itachi had heard him considering how he made his way over to the bed. He sat on it, careful to brush shoulders with his young company just to see his feathers ruffle. After getting the small high from setting someone off balance, the man became much more placid. Placid for his conditions anyway.

With the excess anger slipping away, Itachi placed his hand on the back Neji's neck. He was surprised to feel a few small hairs prickle just as the teen was surprised at how warm the hand belonging to such an icy being was. Otherwise ignoring the response save for a chuckle, Itachi tangled his long fingers into the locks at the base of Neji's skull.

He winced audibly at the sudden tug on his hair when Itachi fisted his hand. "What?" he growled, cautious not to come off as guarded.

"You're very right." Itachi loosened his grip slightly before rubbing at the sore spot he'd made. "Everything pisses me off. But you have to understand, Sasuke is not a subject one should tread lightly with me. Nor the very pretty toddler days the four of you shared with me before Uzumaki left."

"So… are you going to help me?"

"Damn your persistence," Itachi snarled, clenching his fist in Neji's hair again. He couldn't suppress the sick cry of shock. "Now I'm going to remember doing this to him… Fucking teenagers…"

"Sorry…" Neji couldn't move his head, so he tried to switch his gaze from the opposite wall to see if he could catch Itachi's profile. He was surprised to see that he was contemplating. Well, he had on a contemplating face anyway.

In one instant, Neji felt his hair released, the sensation of being pulled to his feet, and air rushing passed his face—whistling in his ears—before his face collided with the fluffy comforter over the mattress. The knee in his back did not help his predicament. He didn't like the fact that both his arms were successfully pinned to his back, twisted in pain.

"What the hell…?" he groaned once he realized what had happened.

"Quiet, Hyuuga," Itachi warned. He leaned down, pressing his knee harder into Neji's spine and making him moan in extreme discomfort. "Listen," he said in his small cousin's ear.

"Speak," Neji spat. He'd like the game to be over so he could stand again.

"I'll help you on a few circumstances."

"State your claims," Neji whimpered as the weight pressing him on the bed seemed to double with each passing second.

"One, you don't tell anyone… though that was a given, wasn't it?"

"Keep going!!" Neji nearly begged. He felt nothing but shame at the pleading he was reduced to. Just thinking about his bulky muscular build and comparing it to the thin sinewy one of his captor made him scowl in what could only be self-disgust.

"Two, you don't ask me what I'm doing."

"What?"

Itachi tightened his squeeze on one of Neji's wrists. "There might be a time when you don't understand what I'm thinking. Don't question it."

"Alright!!"

"One more," Itachi said making his hold normal again. "You've got to back off when I tell you to."

"Explain?"

"If I tell you to leave one of them alone," Itachi stressed, "you _must_ withdraw. It'll probably sicken me beyond all believable extent to see you drooling over Uzumaki and whining over whatever Sasuke can do and you can't."

"Is that all?" Neji queried, wiggling a bit in the viper like grasp. Itachi nodded and let him go. With a muffled sigh of relief, Neji eased his contorted arms and let his back bounce to his normal shape.

"Yes, that's all." Itachi sat next to him on the bed and said, "That's something nice to remember amongst the other regrets."

"You have a lovely sense of humor," the newly released boy said, turning away from his abusive relative. "I'll leave now. I have ot find Naru-chan and tell him to steer clear of you at risk of death."

"Where to?"

"Uh… I'm going down the dining room to find them… if that's what you mean."

"Then I'll gladly come with you," the raven said, standing. He crossed the room, treading across the plush carpet to reach his desk again. He freed his book from its compartment and tucked it into the space between his belt and pants. He caught Neji's inquiring eye and added, "I need to learn a few things for this to work out for me."

"…Sure." Neji collected himself and stood from the bed, finally. Making his way from the room, he removed the tie from his hair and idly twiddled it in his fingers; a nervous habit he'd developed over the years and never grew out of. He could remember Sasuke making fun of him for it when they were younger, and quickly pulled his hair back up in its low ponytail. He knew Itachi was somewhere behind him, but he wasn't complaining about the free space he had on his way down the stairs to meet with the rest of his age group for a well overdue breakfast.

He just couldn't shake the unease though knowing that Itachi was watching him from the safety of the shadows.

-.-.-.-.-

"Hey, Neji!!" Naruto called out energetically when the older boy came in.

He blinked his pale eyes at the unusual greeting. Such a loud, boisterous welcome was unfamiliar in the quiet house. Noise never really did much to fill the many empty corners of the estate. It was always unbearably silent. That was why he liked Naruto. He wasn't afraid to break that traditional silence that came with a large house. He'd speak his mind to get out any random thought just to break the eerie tranquility.

Smiling, he padded his way through the long room and came to a stop behind the blonde leaning against the elegant table. "Hey yourself."

Naruto scrunched up his face. He didn't get it. Dropping that, he said, "I'm shocked to see you. Do you actually eat?"

Neji supported himself on the table as well, putting his arms out behind him. He was going to hear it about prints from his father and both his uncles, but he didn't really care much at the moment. Another reason to like Naruto. He made him feel at ease… even after his exchange with Itachi.

"Take one look at me, Naru-chan," he said, jerking his head a bit to flip his hair over his shoulder. It had flown around his neck in the flurry of his spin when Naruto had called out to him.

Naruto did as he was asked, stepping back even to stand in front of him. He assessed the other teen, humming appreciatively at a challenge to keep his brain alive. Neji took it for something else, of course, but he knew better and chased the rogue thoughts away.

"Well, I'm looking, Neji. I see nothing." He took one more sweep over the toned body before nodding to himself in agreement.

The older boy couldn't help but laugh at his stubborn determination. "I'm a big boy, Naru-chan. Of course I eat."

"Ooh… that's what you were getting at." Naruto settled himself back against the table and sighed, letting the breath bounce his lips in that favorite childhood trumpet noise. "Don't talk in riddles to me. I'm not so bright, as I'm sure you noticed."

"You weren't so sharp as a kid either."

"…Heh?"

Neji shook his head telling him it was nothing. With a shrug, Naruto accepted it as an okay answer.

"You saw me eating at dinner, didn't you?"

"Mm…" Naruto chewed the inside of his cheek to prompt himself to remember. He couldn't do it. "Nah… I was a bit distracted. After I let the old pictures circulate, that bitch-raven bastard had a fit and wouldn't leave me alone for two seconds at a time… Though he was discrete about it."

Neji made a mental note to stop by the old archive's again to check some old photos. He thought he saw a few girls other than Hinata, but now, he thought they just might've been the lovely blonde and his fiancé.

"Right." Neji nodded in understanding at Sasuke's short temper.

"Ah… He's not so bad though," Naruto stated, thinking out loud. Neji had a feeling that he didn't know he was doing it, but he wasn't about to stop him either. "Once you get passed the clingy paranoia, he's relatively normal… And I don't mean clingy like Red either." He shuddered. "I'd kill him if he was."

"Hey," Neji said, offense treading his voice lightly.

"I thought we got passed the greetings?"

Neji shook his head. "Why am I Neji?"

Naruto got off the table and took a step away from his company looking rather disturbed. He raised an arm between them to feel a bit safer.

"You alright?" the paler teen asked, quirking his brow.

"Are you… possibly… crazy?"

"What would incite you to make such an inquiry?"

Naruto dropped the arm between him as his brain sucked the energy out of everything else. Looking at Neji with dull eyes he said, "Strained… brain. Why can't you get that?"

Neji rolled his eyes. "Why the hell did you just ask if I was crazy?"

"Oh." Naruto put both arms between them and made a crooked cross with his fingers before going on. "You just asked me why you're Neji? It is your name, isn't it?" Then a thought, surprising him in the process, struck him. "You aren't one of those freaky philosopher people, are you? That's really creepy, man. I don't think we can talk if you are."

Neji had just been thoroughly stupefied. Naruto really did speak whatever came to his mind. Once he got comfortable anyway.

It took him a while to notice that he no longer had Naruto's attention as a hand mercilessly grabbed the blondie by the shoulder. He was swiveled around, tank top nearly lifting in the makeshift breeze, before a palm ran lightly across his face. The small resounding _smack_ brought Neji out of his daze.

"That's rude to an uncanny extent, even for you," Sasuke said. He shoved something into Naruto's hold before turning him back around. Wrapping his arms around the tanned boy's neck, he locked them over the angry chest and rested his cheek against Naruto's shoulder. The azure-eyed boy looked slightly miffed as he rubbed at his cheek where he'd been assaulted.

"So was that," he bit back.

Sasuke just scoffed from his shoulder. "Eat your ice-cream koi… And he's not crazy. He meant why do you have a name for Gaara and me, but not him."

"Why didn't you just say that?" Naruto asked, frowning at his lack of brain cells. He blamed the sudden extreme loss due to being petrified in a tree earlier that day. Not waiting for an answer he said, "I just don't have one. Red's got one because he sticks out. Hell, he calls me Blondie. And this thing got his because he's a real bother."

"You don't mean that," Sasuke said from his perch. When Naruto turned to look at him in disgust, he batted his eyelashes, taking the evil brood with them.

"Yes, I do," the blonde said rather matter of factly. There wasn't much conviction in his tone. Turning back to Neji he added, "Besides, what do you look like getting a pet name from me?"

"Like someone who's actually loved," Neji said letting his hand close into a fist against his chest. He let out a fake sob and turned away, whipping him in the face with his ponytail.

"You want one, huh?" Naruto asked after getting over the buffet of hair in his mouth. He replaced the gross taste of shampoo with the ice-cream Sasuke had so graciously bestowed upon him instead. "I'll call you Stick."

"Stick?" Neji repeated. "Why?"

"Most of the time," the blonde started. He stopped to scowl when Sasuke took his spoon away to eat off of it instead. Retrieving it, he went on. "Most of the time, you look like there's one up your ass. Either that or you're constipated."

Naruto was grateful that Sasuke had swallowed whatever amount of desert he had stolen since his laugh burst out against his neck. That would have been nasty.

"You're really going based on immediate characteristics?" Neji asked crossing his arms over his chest. When Naruto nodded in return, he said, "Hmp. Maybe you should ask Sasuke what he said in the arena before you decide on 'Stick.'"

Naruto stuck out his bottom lip in thought. When that wasn't enough, his tongue joined. He just decided to turn his head and look. All he saw was a chin. Naruto groaned before placing his ice-cream bowl on the table. He undid the hands over his chest and slipped out of the hold, twisting around so he could look at the bored expression that predominately ruled Sasuke.

"Smile," he ordered with a frown of his own.

Sasuke just looked at him like he was some girl scout asking him to bye cookies. Sasuke didn't eat cookies. And he didn't like persistence either.

"Please?" the blonde added, entwining their fingers together before pulling them to his chest.

"Why?" the young raven asked, choking the blush that was trying to come up back down.

"Just do it?"

Sasuke flashed him a quick upturn of the lips that lasted less than half a second. Naruto just grinned back like the idiot he was.

"Will you partake in PDA with me?"

"I think I do that already," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes at the numb-mindedness that was Naruto.

"So tell me what you said to Neji before airsoft."

Sasuke took a second to think about it. If he told him, he'd probably go nuts because of it was, and they'd lose all gained progress so far. Then again, keeping it from him any longer was bound to turn up the same result. With a shrug to convince himself that he was screwed either way, Sasuke decided that he might as well.

"I told him that he couldn't be your partner in the game because he was he only one out of us that would fight to be on top." Sasuke frowned a bit as his own words thinking that they might have come out wrong, just a little. Shrugging again, he added, "With you sick, that wouldn't have been too hard."

Naruto made a noise in the back of his throat before letting Sasuke's hands drop out of his. He turned around, quick enough that he was just a blur of yellow in front of Sasuke. He didn't hesitate before saying, "Yyyyyeah… Your name's Neji. Period." He grabbed his ice-cream again, shoving a spoonful in his mouth. "And there is no way that I'd go down either."

Neji looked away when he felt an oncoming flush. Naruto really did speak his mind.

"Hey," Naruto smacked his spoon against the ceramic of his bowl to get the attention of the other two. Leaning on the table again, he asked "Where the hell did Red go?"

"His brother said he was dragging him back to his room," Sasuke said reaching for Naruto's spoon again. This time, the blonde was quick to retract it, much to his annoyance. The young raven pulled a face that could rival any three-year-old's, and Naruto handed it over with a clear huff of aggravation. When he put it back, he added, "He said he was coming down here anyway though. He asked you to wait, remember?"

"Mm…" While offering the bowl of frozen sweetness to Neji, Naruto thought about the last moments he'd seen Gaara. He was tugging furiously against the hold Kankurou had on him. Giving up, the redhead had shouted to him over his shoulder. Naruto was too distracted by the scene to actually hear what he had said. "Nah."

"Even I remember that, Naru-chan," Neji said. He'd finished off the bowl, with Naruto's go-ahead of course, and placed it on the table to stay. "And I must say, I was distracted the whole time."

"So was I," Naruto sneered. "And I'm so sorry I'm not a genius like you. When I'm not focused, I'm gone, Neji."

"Even in school?" Neji was a bit shocked to see him nod.

"The shower too," Naruto sighed. "It's terrible. I'm always scared I'll slip into another daydream and drown myself."

"Idiot." Sasuke lifted the hand closest to him off of the table so that he could rest against the hard wood next to the whiskered teen. "Maybe you should take a nanny in to watch you."

"I'd rather not," the blonde said turning up his nose. "Some stranger staring at my lovely wet nakedness is not cool."

"I'll do it," the spiky-haired brunette offered, patting the tanned hand that found its way next to him from around his back.

"No thanks," Naruto declined, standing from the table and turning to face his company again. He meant to speak, but he was hindered when a pair of dainty hands slid over his eyes. The "guess who" was implied, but it didn't require much thinking since the person behind him had pushed up firmly against his ass.

"Hey, Red."

Gaara pouted from behind him and slid his hands down, resting them around his waist. "You're no fun… Oh, Blondie!! You had ice-cream?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, stepping out of Gaara's hold. Sasuke evil death-leer of searing daggers aided a bit in his decision. Instead of sitting on the table between Sasuke and Neji, he got up the resolve to pull out a chair. Plopping down, he asked, "How'd you know?"

"Being short, I can see under your chin." Gaara slipped his hands into his pockets and followed a fly that was buzzing about aimlessly. "Messy eating's a bad habit, Blondie."

Naruto nodded in thanks and wiped at where he assumed the mess to be. He got it on the second shot. "Why so excited about it? You like ice-cream, Red?"

Gaara's ocean-water eyes left the fly in the air to give the little attention he had to the blonde in the chair. "No. I don't particularly like _ice-_cream."

"Okay…" Naruto scratched his head, expecting Gaara to continue, but he never did. "What kind of cream do you like then?"

"Me? I'm a snack-cake person. I like whatever's in the Twinkies." Gaara's eyes flicked from Sasuke to Neji and back again a few times. They'd been quiet before, but now their silence was a bit upsetting. "What?"

Naruto laughed from his chair and grabbed the small redhead to his side. Still laughing, he said, "You gotta love him!! He's adorable when he isn't lusting after you." He didn't mind so much when Gaara took that as an invitation to sit on his lap. He was actually expecting it. So Naruto just made sure that Gaara had perched far away on his knee like one would sit a relative's child. He didn't seem to mind the distance.

Neji snorted from his spot.

"What?" the other three asked in unison.

Neji shook his head, saying it was nothing, but Naruto wasn't going to take that a second time. "What's so funny to you?"

"…That didn't sound like a laugh to me," Sasuke said, keeping an eye on Gaara constantly. It wasn't like he really needed to. Gaara had contented himself to watch the dust that was caught in beams of sunlight from the windows. He almost looked mesmerized by the small floating particles.

"You can't tell the difference?" Naruto asked, eyes bulging a bit. "I've been here for two days and I can tell when he wants to laugh at something."

"And I congratulate you for being so observant," Neji said, applauding slightly. "But really, it's nothing. It just reminded me of something."

"Of what?"

"One of the old videos I saw down in the archives." He crossed his arms and closed his pale eyes to remember it clearly. "It's funny really, because we were all opposites when we were kids, and—"

"You have movies of when we were kids?!" Naruto was quick to jump from his seat and sidle up to Neji. Gaara looked a bit intrigued when he found himself suddenly sitting in a warm chair than on Naruto's firm knee.

"Well… they're technically the house's… but yeah." He pushed Naruto back a bit so that he wasn't staring into his pores anymore. "Why?"

"I wanna see!!"

"Don't get so worked up," Sasuke chastised. "You'll forget to breathe. "

"But I want to see!!" the blonde exclaimed, reaching over to tug on Sasuke's onyx locks. "Stop scolding me. You have to remember that I didn't know any of you existed until a few days ago."

"Right, right…" Sasuke took the fingers out of his hair and held the tanned hand in his. He noticed that it was slightly warmer than his own. "Will you take us, Hyuuga?"

"Sure," Neji said with a shrug. "Grab the ladybug and we'll go."

Gaara looked away from the dust in the air and gave Neji a weird look. "How'd a ladybug get in the house?"

"He's so freakin' cute!!" No one had expected that from Naruto. Nor would they have ever thought that he could rush to the smaller boy and rip him out of the chair. "Not only does he make me feel smart, but he's so adorable when he does it!!"

Gaara tilted his head to look over the shoulder of the blonde that had just squeezed him to his chest. "Was that an insult..?"

Naruto laughed and threw an arm over the slim shoulders of the small redhead. "You should use that as a first impression instead of the slut-barrage." Gaara still looked a little lost, so he just dropped it. "Lead the way, Neji."

He just nodded, a little surprised at the scene that had unraveled before him. He turned and started off to the front of the house. They were heading to the room where he'd been the time he first saw Naruto. Well, the first time that he could actually remember. Neji looked over his shoulder at a pitiful sight. Naruto still had an arm draped over Gaara who, now that they were walking, had to hold on to the blonde leading him through the halls. He didn't seem to mind needing an anchor to make up for his stumbling since it got an arm around his waist again. Pretty soon his fingers were drumming against his hip much like when he'd pounced him in the equipment room.

And then there was Sasuke. He looked more than peeved that Naruto didn't care about having another guy wrapped around him after giving something like a love confession. So when he saw Gaara's fingers tapping against the hip under the Naruto's waistband again, he savagely grabbed onto the tanned hand swinging next to him. There was a noise that halted Naruto's conversation with Gaara as he turned to give an angry pout at his fiancé. But the irritated scowl he got made him think other wise.

Neji scoffed at the picture behind him before turning back so he didn't hit a column in the hallway during his march. He was slightly startled when the last wisp of a dark ponytail flitted around the corner in front of him. He looked down the hall inconspicuously to see if he could catch of glimpse of Itachi, but the enigmatic man was gone just as son as Neji had become aware of his presence. Being with Naruto had lowered his guard, and Neji's usually searching eyes had failed to pick up on his older cousin.

He couldn't suppress the sudden shiver that ran through him as a chill snuck up his spine.

* * *

Itachi rather scares me in this one... 


	9. Movies!

chapter... 9?/ I believe?? Yeah. that's right. soo, once again, I'm very very sorry my loves. I haven't been able to update due to that notorious impeedment called school. yeah.sooo... about the chapter, right?? mmm... it's really like... a filler type thing to get me through to the next one. but it's still nice. I like to read it because of the video parts ((italics)) but, there it s a reason to read it. uhm... you find out what happened. who did it. and... something else that i really can't remember... hope you'll still read it. )

* * *

"...Have I been here?" Naruto looked around the room that Neji referred to as the family library and nodded soon after. "I know I have..."

"This is where we met, Naru-chan." Neji pushed passed the stubborn blonde in the doorway and found his way to a seat. Plopping down into it, he said, "These are the old archieves," with a whirling hand gesture.

"... I thought you said that there were videos down here?" Naruto asked, looking around again.

"Videos... That's right." Neji got up from his seat and sauntered over to a bookshelf. Reaching to the top, he pulled down what looked like an oversized binder. He laid it out on a table and opened it for the others to see.

"Well no wonder we didn't know the things were down here," Gaara commented. "We're all too short..."

"No, he's just monsterously tall," Sasuke chided.

"Who cares!!" Naruto pulled Sasuke back a bit and oddly draped himself over his fiancé to get a look at the tapes in the case. "...What's this one?" he asked pointing to the tape closest to him.

Neji took a second to look before saying, "It would help if you tried reading the label." Regardless, he pulled the cassete out and held it up to see where it was from. "This is the video from..." He paused to take in the title himself due to shock.

"Well...?"

"This is from the engagement party," Neji said rather matter of factly. "I actually don't think I've seen this one."

"Can we watch it??" Naruto asked more than excited. "Please? I haven't seen anything that old since before the fire, and it'd be so cool to-- what is it?"

Sasuke was the first to break away from the awkward staring that Naruto was recieving from his company. Clearing his throat he asked, "What fire?"

"...Right." Naruto sighed before reaching into the pocket of his bottoms. He pulled out his trusty wallet and flipped it open, pulling up one of the inside flaps. From behind it, he pulled out a newpaper clipping. When Sasuke reached for it, Naruto was quick to pull it back. "Don't touch it," he warned. Everyone nodded, and he set it on the table. There were three pictures to the side of the article with names under them. It was logical to presume them to be Naruto and his parents. Beside the pictures, it read:

_August, 2005_

_**Tragic Fire Steals Beloved Family and US Citizens**_

_After finally hunting down a serial killer that was terrorizing the entire east coast, Lieutenant Uzumaki had finally been promoted to head colonel of his branch. Having finished his assistance with the New York police, he happily accepted the offer of the higher position. He was quick to celebrate with his wife and son on a family outing that any happy home would enjoy. It was a the picturesque scene of a loving family before today._

_"I just came back today and the place was up in flames," says the young Naruto Uzumaki. Upon returning from school, he saw his home as it started to collapse. "I only wish I'd gotten here sooner..."_

_When asked what he would have done, the young scholar replied, "That depends on what happens... The only reason I'm still here biting my nails if because I don't know if Mom or Dad were in there..."_

_It's a morbid thing to tell that the rest of the Uzumaki family was, in fact, burned along with their small home. When the news had gotten around the the questioning boy, he refused to offer any more information on how he felt about the matter. _

_"It's just terrible," he says while he crys next to a social worker, one Miss Tsunade. "They never did anything... They shouldn't be dead!!"_

_The young boy's hysteria only worsened when he caught wind that the fire had been purposely started..._

The rest of the article went on to say what arson was and how they planned to punish the criminal once they'd found him. There was a short community tribute to willing military officer that had given up well deserved leave to help the crime infested city of New York only to be burned to death in his own home. Toward the very end, Naruto was mentioned again.

_It's been decided that, for his best interest, Naruto Uzumaki be placed in foster care until he is fourteen. Even though that is under the normal legal emancipation age, it is understandable why this scholar is given an exception. His capability to care for himself has been well portrayed over the years since his father has been..._

That was where Naruto decided that the article needed to stop since he'd torn it off from there on.

The entire room seemed to stop living as the _not_ blonde occupants finished reading. No one knew what to say after that, so no words came out. They just looked at each other with odd faces, not caring that they still hadn't expelled their breath. What could they say? It was far too late to offer condolences... And he probably wouldn't want them anyway. Saying how sorry they were was bound to just piss him off.

"...Are you done yet?" Naruto asked expectantly. "I'd think all of you, even Red, could read faster than I can."

"Yeah," Sasuke said, letting his breath loose at last. "We're done Koi... You didn't have to show us that though."

Naruto just shrugged. "It's better if you know. That way, if it's brought up somehow, you won't hate me for getting moody."

Neji scoffed from his spot on the opposite side of the table. "As moody as that thing over there is?" he asked, jutting a thumb out at his younger cousin. "We'd be serious hypocrites to do so."

Naruto smiled, throwing an arm over Sasuke's shoulders. "He is moody, isn't he?"

"You know," Sasuke interjected, "I am still here... I'd rather you didn't talk about me like I wasn't."

"...Why can't you just say it like normal people?" Gaara pouted. "It goes like 'I'm still here ya know!!' Not whatever you said..."

"Alright cherry, don't get too excited," Neji said. He sighed when he was asked who Cherry was.

"Oh, hey..." Sasuke put an arm around Naruto and drew him close to whisper. "Do you know who did it?"

Naruto didn't bother to take the precaution to lower his voice as the other two bickered on. "Yeah I know who did it... why?"

Sasuke took note of the odd looks from the other house occupants and whispered again. "You aren't mad?"

"Why would I be mad, Sasuke?"

Neji was the first to catch on. It had taken him a fair minute to catch the drift of Sasuke's implications, but he got them nonetheless. "Sasuke... that's not the one from that guy, is it?"

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek before saying, "I think so."

"...Oh damn." The oldest boy sent his gaze around the room once to make sure Itachi wasn't there. Nope. If he was, he could get them into a lot of trouble for what they were talking about.

"What guy?" Naruto asked. "You know who did it? That yakuza?"

"Yeah that's him," Sasuke confirmed, jamming his free hand into his pocket out of irritation. "Damn this is not good..."

"...Can I... possibly know what's going on here?" Naruto asked, roughly pulling himself away from the other three people in his group.

"Me too, if you don't mind," Gaara added.

"...That's a double offense, Uchiha," Neji warned when he saw Sasuke's lips start to form words. "He's not suppose to know about it, and Naru-chan might not want to..."

"I know that, thank you," Sasuke growled. Turning back to Naruto he asked, "Are you sure that you want to know who this guy was?"

"Well, since you're all talking about it, I have no clue what's going on, and I'm a demanding brat... Yes, I want to know."

Sasuke winced before turning around to look at Gaara. "And you?"

The redhead perked up almost instantly. "No one tells me anything. Damn right I want to know."

Sasuke had to take a moment to think about it. It was a big decision after all... And it was a big thing to say, too...

Making his choice, Sasuke shook his head. "Never mind it," he said turning his back to everyone. "Let's just watch the tape... both of you will probably get it from there."

Clearly agitated at having to make the discovery on his own, Naruto reluctantly said, "Fine... Neji!! Will you put it in please?"

The oldest boy looked around the room. The TV was gone. Pulling on the back of Sasuke's top, he asked, "Do you have a television in your bedroom?"

"Not for one of those I don't."

Neji changed tactics. "How aout you, Gaara?"

"Mm..." He only took a second ot two to think about it. "Nah... Temari took mine after her boyfriend broke hers."

"She let him break her TV?" Naruto asked, rather astonished. "I thought she was massively hard core??"

"...What? Of course she is. She threw him into it and it fell out of her enternainment center."

Naruto didn't say anything after that.

Neji nodded after making a silent decision in his head. "My room then. Let's go."

After being dragged around all morning, Naruto had to moan. It wouldn't have been in his perosnality if he didn't protest. "You're kidding!!" he wailed. "Your room is way up there by ours!!"

"I thought you wanted to watch it??" Neji asked, just a tad over confused. "Oh well, I guess you really didn't want to that much." He shrugged. "I'll watch it then."

"Asshole..." Naruto mumbled. "Of course I want to watch it... But you really don't have anything closer?"

"...The basement??" the most petite of the four suggested. "It's only down the hall."

"How do you know that?" Neji asked. "I didn't know we had a basement."

"Me neither," Sasuke added.

"Oh well..." Gaara took a second to make sure his memory was right. "I found it by accident when I was little. Kank left me out one day after school, and I still didn't know my way around."

"...So?" the two brunettes asked.

"So I started looking around," Gaara said, rather offended that they couldn't guess that themselves. "The door was open, it was dark, and I fell in. That's all."

"...You fell?" Sasuke asked chidingly. He just snorted when Gaara gave him a nod. "Sounds like you alright..."

"Shut up Sasuke," Neji ordered. "There's a TV down there, Gaara?"

"Uhh... yeah!! I remember because I was trying to eat one of the tapes when Kank finally came and got me."

"Ugh... You were a monster when you were teething, weren't you?" Naruto asked from a safe distance.

"Sure was," Neji confirmed. "Now, this is rather boring. Come on, Gaara, take us to the basement."

"Sure." he said with a shrug. For someone that they often mocked as the idiot, Gaara was pretty good with directions. He managed to get straight to his destination without some sort of nonsense destraction. For him, leading them to a room that no one knew about seemed to come naturally.

"There it is, Neji," Gaara said, pointing out the more than obvious wide screen. It was sitting in what looked like an old hangout; something you'd find at a bachelor's place. There was even a poker table.

"Great..." Neji made his way over and popped the cassette into the VCR. He took a seat at the closest end of the small couch.

"...We're not gonna fit with Neji's big ass," Sasuke sighed sitting down next to his now irritated cousin.

"Sure we will," Naruto contradicted. "Watch what someone who used to solely hang out with cheerleaders can do." He guided Gaara over to sit in the only space left on the small sofa. Then, he stepped back and fell into thinking.

"...Well?" Sasuke called out expectantly. "Is there a reason you aren't here yet?"

"I'm thinking up a way that won't have you pissed and on my ass later," the blonde growled. "God... you're evil, teme,"

"So?"

Naruto rolled his eyes before pushing the play button and making his way to the occupied couch. He stopped for one second before deciding he was right with his choice of action. Sitting in Sasuke's lap first, he sprawled himself across his fellow housemates. His head was on the armrest next to Gaara, and his feet were propped up against Neji's.

"...Gee, are you comfortable, dobe?" Sasuke jeered.

"I am. Now shut up and watch the movie with the pretty babies."

It took a few seconds for the designated camera man to get the tape rolling with the audio that they were catching snatches of.

_"I can get it!!" they heard someone cry. "Really, you two can leave," they heard the same voice say as the picture kicked in as well. The first things on the tape were a set of children. One had shaggy brown hair, the other spiky blonde ponytails. _

_"Go sit with your dad," the sneering voice said as the camcorder started to move. "You two get on my nerves worse than that brother of yours."_

_"Come on Uchiha... You really can't want to watch those things now," the boy said._

_"Yeah," the blonde added. "You're eleven now, Itachi. You can't really want to look after babies. That's something a person like me should be doing."_

_"You mean an incompetant brat named Temari?" Itachi asked, setting the camcorder down on a nearby table. _

_"Don't talk about me like you can do something," she hissed. _

_"The last time I checked," the young Itachi started as he walked into frame, " the two of you were six and seven. I'm still watching over you lovely children every now and then. Don't make life hard on yourselves."_

_Temari harrumphed and stalked off. After a while, she called Kankurou to follow with her. He took a moment to defend himself._

_"You know I'd rather stay with you. The adults are boring..." He looked around before finishing his statement. "And Temari's bossy."_

_"To tell the truth," Itachi said, "I don't mind you. But your sister is demon-spawn..."_

_Temari's shrill, underaged voice cut in again. Kankurou waved goodbye before trotting off after her._

_Itachi went back to the camcorder, knelt in front of it, and it cut off. It was black for about two seconds before colors came back into focus of the lens. They were at a gate now, someone was walking through. The screen seemed to jump while it was moved over to the man who'd just walked in. _

_"Hi, Uncle Uzu!!" the eleven year old Itachi cried out. It was shocking to hear such an intense, icy man sound so innocent and look so cute._

_"Hey, Ta-chan," the blonde man said, squatting down a bit to pat him on the head. "Wanna do me a favor?"_

_"Uh... Sure."_

_"Will you take Naruto over to sit in the play pen?"_

_"..." It was silent for a moment as the camcorder was sat down in the grass. Then a happy little bundle lurched from the kid that was supposed to be keeping track of the event going on in the Uchiha courtyard._

_"You brought the baby?!" he shouted. "Can I see him? Please?? I've been away at school. Can I see??"_

_"Of course you can. Just a minute." Corporal Uzumaki stood from his crouched position and hollered over the gate. "If you want any time with the baby, hun, you'd better take it slow!!"_

_"Uncle Uzu!! That's not fair!!" Itachi pouted. "You've had him for a year now!!"_

_"I'm kidding. Don't worry; between you and me, she can't stand the kid right now."_

"Good job, Naruto," Sasuke said in present time. "You cried so much you appalled your mother."

"Screw you..."

_"She'll let me have him then?"_

_"Of course. I'll just go get him for you, how's that Ta-chan?"_

_A smile broke out on his unmatured face. "'Kay! I have to go tell Father first then." He located the still recording thing in the grass and shut it off again. Seconds later, as it seemed to the people watching anyway, it clicked back on. _

_A woman gasped in the background. "You dyed your hair?!"_

_The woman who had just walked in behind her husband with a bundle in her arms just laughed and tossed a bit over her shoulder. "Do you like it? Everyone else in the family was going blonde, so I thought I'd give it a go."_

_"It looks good!! Oh here, give the baby to Itachi, he'll take him to the other ones."_

_"Oh, you don't mind terribly, do you?" the blonde lady asked, bending down to eye level with the camcorder. The frame shook from side to side with Itachi's head. "Thank you so much!!"_

_"It's no problem Aunty Uzu. This thing has a strap now." Itachi must've adjusted it to his shoulder before taking the baby. The whole screen bounced and wiggled as it made a journey to the center of the courtyard. It finally stopped with Itachi got down on one knee. He put the baby in the grass before removing the camcorder. He set it on a statue where he could still see it and ran back to the fat thing lolling about on the ground. _

_"Sasuke," he called into the pen beside him. _

_It took a few seconds, but an adorable thing that resembled him in every way, save for clothes, waddled over. _

_"Chi-chan!!" it cried, grabbing onto the links in the pen's fence._

_"Sasuke, look."_

_Sasuke got down inside the pen. His pretty black dress billowed around him, and his puffy sleeves got in the way. Lowering his arms, he peered out through the kite-shaped spaces between the links that made up the cage he was in. It was uncomfortable to sit on your toes in dress shoes, so he sat on both knees. He had to put his headband back on to keep his annoyingly flat hair out of the way. _

_"'S a baby, Chi-chan," he said, poking it through the fence. Naruto squirmed at the weird prodding._

_"Yes, yes... But Sasuke, this is your fiancé."_

_"Fancy?? 'S my fancy?"_

_Itachi shook his head. "Not fancy, fiancé." Sasuke looked confused, so he opted to help him out. "You're gonna marry him."_

_"...Look s'like a girl, Chi-chan."_

_"Then so do you," he retorted. _

_"Not girl..."_

_"Alright then. He's a boy too."_

_"But Chi-chan!!" Sasuke whinned as Itachi picked the baby up off the ground. "Can't marr boy..."_

_Itachi stepped over the short gate into the playpen and sat down, crossing his legs. "Just a minute..." He looked around for a second then groaned. "Temari!! You're brother's eating itself!!"_

_"Can you stop him please?!" she called back, no doubt showing off skill-less ballet to some poor soul. _

_"...No."_

_He waited for her to show up, and when she did, he smiled. _

_"You're in there with him!!" she cried. No one save for those watching noticed the camcorder moving. After getting close enough, it zoomed in on the age approriate occupants of the playpen. A short red head was tearing up grass as he chewed on one of his fists. _

_A brunette, who had to be older since he was walking and speaking well enough, went over and shouted "No, Gaara!!" at him. The little Neji patted at his pockets and pulled out an abandoned lollipop for the small redhead to chew on instead. "Taste's better," he said with an imp-like grin._

_As for Sasuke and Naruto... Sasuke was keeping him on the ground. Every time he tried to roll over, Sasuke would push him onto his back again. It was like rolling a log, the way they were doing it. _

"What a nice kid," Naruto commented in present times. "Gaara and Neji got along fine. But you just had to terrorize me, didn't you?"

"It was to compensate for now," the Uchiha said trying to get comfortable under his finacé. "And it had to be hard-- you still aren't light."

"Oh shut up," Naruto groaned sitting up. He removed himself from the couch and hit fast-forward. Apparently, Kankurou had taken the camcorder and was filming anything that moved. When Itachi had caught him, he dropped it, and everything turned to static. Soon after, though, things were back to normal. Except everyone was older. The tape must have corrupted from the time that they saw first.

And, apparently, this was the real engagement party.

This time, Naruto sat down on the floor in front of Sasuke and leaned back using the brunette's knees as armrests. To make up for it, Sasuke leaned forward and placed his chin in Naruto's hair, wrapping his arms loosly around his neck. No one said anything as the tape wound on.

_Once again, Itachi was put in charge of the camcorder. Once again, they were out in the Uchiha courtyard. But this time, there was no holding place for kids. They all ran around on their own... tripping over nothing... falling into things... giving Itachi heart attacks._

_"God... I wish you'd sit still, Sasuke," he said as he set the camcorder down. He sat his little brother up in the grass to get a look at his bruising knee. "At least it's not bleeding," he muttered. _

_"I can't sit still, Onii-chan!!" the young Sasuke cried as he scrambled to his feet. He came into better view when Itachi stood too. Apparently, he was still in dresses. And his hair was atrociously pulled back in pigtails that needed serious help. Itachi offered to aid him there. _

_"Why can't you?" he asked as he worked a few tangles out with his fingers. _

_Sasuke winced a bit at the slight tug, but persevered nonetheless. "He's coming back isn't he, Onii-chan??" _

_"Who?" Itachi asked pulling the first pigtail into place._

_"The one Tousan is always talking about!!" He tugged free from his older brother's grasp and turned to face him, hair only half done. "His friend from the army!! Didn't he leave a long time ago??" _

_"Yes," Itachi sighed, pulling the young cross-dresser back so that he could finish the job he started. "Uncle Uzu's coming back."_

_"And Missus too??"_

_"Aunty too."_

_"Ne, ne!! There was another one... wasn't there??" That bit came out a little feebler than everything else._

_"Sasuke... you've learned to beat around the bush!!" Itachi laughed. "Only four years old, and you've lost your blunt questioning."_

_"Who was the other one, Onii-chan??" the smaller brunette whined. _

_"The baby you beat up at the last party we had for you two," his brother explained. _

_"...You mean the blonde girl??" _

_"No. He's a boy. He was back then too."_

_The little Sasuke gasped loud enough for the camcorder to pick it up and play it back like he was in the room with him... when he was still little. "You mean my fancy?!" he shouted._

_"Practice saying fiancé, Sasuke," Itachi sighed._

_"Who cares..."_

_Itachi sighed again at his stubbornness. "Just come with me?"_

_"To where??"_

_"To sit with your cousin," Itachi elaborated._

_"...Ji-chan's so mean though," Sasuke declared with a pout._

_Itachi scoffed as he picked the camcorder back up. "Apparently not if that's the title you've given him. Looks like you still can't lie too well."_

_Sasuke turned into a prissy sourpuss as they made their way back to the actual party. Once they were within the vicinity of people again, the coos rushed in upon them. Itachi had to grab onto Sasuke to make sure he wasn't ripped off somewhere by an adoring associate of their parents'. After making it passed the women, an audible sigh made it to the camcorder, and so did two other kids._

_Neji had, undoubtedly, decided he was going to grow his hair out at age five because that was what he was doing. It had already reached his shoulders, but he couldn't do much to keep it back save for wear something on his forehead. His father wasn't letting him dress like a girl, so he had to make due with a sash. It must not have bothered him though because he looked possitively unperturbed. _

_Gaara, on the other hand, looked like he was living in Hell. His hair looked like he'd just been attacked by scissors in the dark, his shirt was torn, and he was bawling his eyes out. He had to have bit his thumb a few times during his sucking too since he was hiccuping as well. _

_"Dammit... Gaara, what happened to you??" Itachi asked. He gave the camcorder to Sasuke and made his way over next to him. _

_"You missed it, Itachi," Neji offered. "He ran right into the bushes..."_

_"Bushes wouldn't do all this, Neji..."_

_"Well, it __**was **__one of the rose bushes, you know... And there was a snake inside that tried to eat him."_

_"Oh man..." Itachi picked Gaara up off the ground and held him close to his chest. "Only thirteen and I'm doing a mother's work... Sasuke, watch the camcorder while I take care of this?"_

_"Why can't I?" Neji whined._

_"'Cause I'm more 'sponsible," Sasuke teased. Itachi just ignored their spat as he trotted off with the still fussing redhead. Sooner than later, they got into something like a fight. And it was apparent that Sasuke hadn't started his studies in martial arts like Neji. He was pushed back time after time, rubbing vicious grass stains into his pretty blue dress and white socks. _

_He glared up at Neji from his spot on the ground. Through tears that he forbade to fall, he said, "I told Onii-chan you were mean..."_

_"It's your fault," Neji said defending himself. He extended a hand to help Sasuke up. It was accepted, but, once Sasuke was on his feet, he glared at his cousin from the bangs that rebelled against his pignails. _

_"You just like to push someone around..."_

_Neji sighed as he saw that Itachi was coming back with Gaara looking somewhat normal again. Turning back to Sasuke, he asked, "You want a free hit then?"_

_He just got a nervous look in response._

_"Better do it before Itachi comes back," he warned. This time, there wasn't hesitation in the quick hand that ran across the left side of his face. Even though he'd prompted it himself, Neji must not have expected to be smacked because he stumbled back a bit. He didn't say anything when Itachi came back._

"Is that why you're so quick to hit someone, Uchiha?" Neji asked in real time.

"It's your own fault, cousin..."

_Itachi let Gaara down from his back and collapsed onto the grass. As soon as he did, there was a commotion from the gate. Itachi groaned as he rolled over and grabbed the camcorder from where Sasuke dropped it. "I'll be back," he said. "Please don't die while I'm gone??"_

_Of course they nodded just to make him feel better. It wasn't like you could say "we'll try" when one of you was prone to danger at all times. _

_Abandoning the three kids of the familiy, Itachi made it passed those same cooing people to where his father was. With a sigh of relief, he adjusted the camcorder back to normal. _

_"Fugaku," he breathed._

_"At least call me Father, Itachi..."_

_"Father then," the young teen sighed. "What just happened?" _

_"Uzumaki's back," the head of the Uchiha household explained with a smile. _

_It was then that Itachi was aware that other people were under the gazebo besides his father and himself. Looking around, he spotted a familiar spiky-haired man. _

_"Uncle Uzu!!" he cried. Keeping in mind his age, he didn't bound over like he had earlier in the tape. This time, he wasn't in a rush and walked over like a normal person. Putting the camcorder aside, he was able to hug the man. "Did you bring Aunty?" he asked after letting him go. _

_"I didn't really bring her," the blonde man sighed. "She's the one that dragged me here."_

_"You make it sound like you didn't want to come," Itachi noted._

_"Not this early I didn't," the man amended. "She's on her way in, she's fixing... whatever's wrong with the boy. I swear I can't tell anymore," he added shaking his head. _

_"The missus still got you with a drag-queen for a son, Uzumaki?" Fugaku asked from his seat._

_"And yours, Uchiha??" he snapped back. "I hear they still share that opinion." _

_Fugaku laughed, so Itachi decided it was time to leave. He grabbed the camcorder and got out from under the gazebo. He used the zoom feature to check on his kids again before making his necessary rounds of the event. When he was finished that, it was almost on cue that a still blonde lady walked in with a blonde tot waddling close to her. Itachi was quick to make himself known._

_"Aunty!!" he called as he waltzed over._

_She gave him her attention and smiled. "You've gotten so big!!" she cried. "And you've taken such good care of your hair!! I've seen your brother's..." she added making a wretched face. _

_Itachi couldn't help but laugh. "You too, Aunty. I thought you would have gone back to natural red again by now."_

_"No, no," she said shaking her head. "The blonde has grown on me. The US seems to like it a lot."_

_Itachi nodded to show tha the was listening, but he wasn't really interested. "Father and Uncle Uzu are under the gazebo if you want to find them. I think my mother is there too."_

_"Really? I think I'll have to give them a visit then. If you don't mind..?"_

_"I'll take him," Itachi said. He didn't need her to finish her question to understand. She gave him a nod before walking off. Once she was gone, Itachi grabbed the scared blonde and situated him on his hip. _

_Naruto didn't say anything._

_"Do you remember me?" Itachi asked._

_Naruto shook his head. _

_"How about Sasuke?"_

_Naruto shrugged in Itachi's hold._

_"Alrighty then little miss, you're going to re-meet everyone then." Itachi made sure not to ruffle the pretty orange dress with blue trimming as he carried the small blonde over to the other kids. When Itachi set him down, Naruto tugged on one of the blue ribbons keeping his much-like-Sasuke's pigtails in place. He wiggled under the gaze of the other children._

_Gaara was the first one to actually do something. "Your hair is yellow!!" he shrieked. "'S so cool!!" he added getting to his feet. "'S crazy like mine, too..."_

_"So is your dad's," Neji said rolling his eyes. _

_"But daddy's is like... brown," Gaara argued. "Besides, this sticks out like mine. I think I actually like this person," he said hugging the nervous blonde. Naruto made a whimpering noise._

_"You're scaring him," Sasuke said, detaching Gaara from Naruto. "... I think it's a him... You're a boy?"_

_Naruto nodded viciously._

_"Can you talk?" Neji asked from his spot a bit further back. He decided to join everyone up by the mystery blonde then._

_Naruto just nodded crazily again._

_"Ooh... you're shy," Sasuke said. Naruto just looked away as a blush speckled his cheeks. "'S okay!!" Sasuke reassured. "Hina-chan's shy too. She won't even come outside."_

_Naruto "eeped" when Sasuke threw an arm over his shoulders. He guessed it was as good a time as any to talk. _

_"I... I'm N-naruto..."_

_"Why are you in a dress if you're a boy then?" Sasuke asked, ignoring the fact that he was too._

_"Uh... Mommy likes to put me in dressies... I don't ask her to..."_

_"Yours too?" Sasuke asked rather shocked. "I hate it, but mine won't stop!!"_

_"Oh... I-I'm too scaredy to ask her not to," Naruto said in a rather hushed tone._

_"So is Sasuke," Neji comforted, pointing at Sasuke. "He wouldn't look like an ugly girl if he wasn't."_

_"You look like a girl without the dresses," Sasuke countered. _

_"...Sasukey-kun's not an ugly girly..." Naruto said. Even though he was a bit late, no one seemed to mind. Itachi especially because he set his camera back down again._

_"Naruto," he called, tapping him on the shoulder. He was startled, but it wasn't to the extent that he was screaming. Ignoring the fright he'd bestowed upon the youngest of them, he asked, "Do you know who that is?"_

_Naruto took,two seconds to look confused, scared, then upset. Then he remembered who he was talking about. "Sasukey-kun?" he guessed, looking away just in case he was wrong. _

_"Well... yes, but do you know __**who**__ he is?" Itachi pressed._

_"...I don't get it," Naruto admitted, looking like he was on the verge of tears. _

_Sasuke came over and held his chubby hand in his own. Scowling at his brother he said, "Don't make him cry, Onii-chan!!"_

_"Well," Itachi sighed, "at least you like each other..."_

_"Why, it matters?" Gaara asked. He was still recovering from his injuries, so he thought it'd be fun to pick at one of the bandages on his elbow._

_"Yes, it matters," the teen Uchiha said. He grabbed his camcorder, standing from the grass, and fixed the lens on Sasuke and Naruto. "These two are supposed to get married," he declared as he clicked the freeze-frame button. The image of Naruto clinging to Sasuke out of terror toward the device was stuck as the audio played on. Soon, the snap-shot went away._

_"What's the picture for, Onii-chan?" Sasuke asked._

_"Anyone who watches this tape," Itachi answered. Once the youngster meeting was over, Itachi had to get back to his duties as camera-man. He kept an eye on what was going on with the four children as he was made to tape tedious happenings: a bogus drawing, gifts that no one really needed, small talk with the older people at the event. Very tedious-- until it was time to actually show off the couple-to-be to the audience that had come. _

_The sudden onslaught of "oohs" and "ahhs" and "how cutes" made Naruto look like he wanted to cry. He would grab onto Sasuke, and the spectators would only amplify their fawning. Naruto would groan and bury himself in the countless ruffles and folds of Sasuke's dress. The onlookers would squeal with delight. It just got worse and worse as the tape wore on. Finally, it cut out because someone named Temari thought it'd be funny to sneak up behind Itachi and shove him so that the camcorder fumbled to the ground._

_Shortly after, the tape was back online, but the terrible period of crooning had passed._

_"Fugaku!!" they heard Itachi call. Apparently, he wasn't in charge of the camera this time. "Where are you, Fugaku??"_

_"Where I've been this whole time," his father called back. He sounded much closer. And he must've been because Itachi had to walk into view of the lens before his voice was no longer disembodied. _

_"Fugaku," the young Uchiha went on, "Kakashi said he needs to know if the Uzumaki's are staying."_

_"Tell him we're here for a week," the man wielding the camcorder said, dishing out a thumbs-up. "It was Hell getting that kid to sit still on the plane."_

_"Sounds true enough," Itachi sighed before ducking out of view again. "The kid's a coward if I ever met one."_

_"Yeah," Corporal Uzumaki sighed once Itachi was gone. "But there's something wrong with all of our kids, itsn't there, Uchiha?"_

_"Right you are," Fugaku agreed. "All of them have some kind of defect."_

_"Speak for yourself," a man with slightly darker skin than they had said. _

_"Spare us," Fugaku countered. "Your kid is bound to kill himself by other means than suicide. He'll probably trip down a flight of stairs and land at just the right angle..."_

_"And yours is a pompus brat that thinks he's above all else," the sharp-eyed man bit back._

_"Though redundant, it's still true," the blonde man said in agreeement. "But what about Hyuuga? I don't see anything wrong with his kid."_

_"There're two of them, which one do you mean?" Fugaku asked. _

_"That's right... the boy then."_

_"Him?" Fugaku jeered. "That kid is lost, Uzumaki. He doesn't know where he's going half the time. The other half, he's trying not to forget his name."_

_"Memory's that shot?" the blonde gasped._

_"That shot."_

_"Terrible..." the visiting officer muttered. "You've got three, don't you?"_

_"Me?" the brown-haired man asked. He nodded after he got an affirmative._

_"How did they turn out, Subakuno?"_

_"Terrible..."_

_"Must you talk with the yakuza malice always?"_

It was a good thing that the tape stopped there because Naruto was quick to jump from his lax position to the television. He stopped the tape, and turned to his company, a confused and angry look on his face.

After preparing himself for any response, he asked, "Who was that? In terms of the family I mean."

"Well... he wasn't really family yet," Neji corrected. "But he wouldn't really have a title..."

"It's Gaara's father," Sasuke huffed, forcing his cousin to shut up.

"Where the hell is he now?" the blonde demanded.

"I knew it'd get to this," Neji moaned. He covered his face with one hand and leaned back against the couch. Letting out a breath, he said, "He's in prison over in the US waiting for his sentence to be up so they can put him on death row."

"What for?"

"Arson," Gaara offered. Then things pulled together and dawned on him quite quickly after. "Why the hell didn't anyone tell me that?!" he cried.

"Because your spastic ass didn't need to know," Neji growled. "It's bad enough that this poor kid--" he gestured to Naruto "-- found out watching old home movies. It wouldn't help if _everyone _knew about it; he'd be on a warpath then."

"Wait a damn minute!!" Naruto ordered from his spot in front of the TV. "If you all knew that I was coming to live here, and you all knew that he's the yakuza fuck that ruined my life, why the _hell_ do you have his kids living here, too?!"

"Uh... Go ahead, Sasuke," Neji said with an open palm.

"Thanks so much..." Sasuke took a second to try and make himself feel better about the whole thing, but he couldn't. How was he supposed to? That question was cut-and-dried, and there was no getting around it at all. "How to start..."

"With the answer," Naruto offered.

"Well... they're all here because they were already living here, you know?" Sasuke stopped to get the next part right. "...Something happened to their mom, so it was just them and their dad. When he got put away, we couldn't throw them out. So... they stay here."

"Why'd he do it then?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "Yakuza. But... he was really upset about you guys going to the US more than anything. He was still living in the days of the Internment camps... though he wasn't around for them, the stories ate away at him like crazy."

"So??"

"So the transfer had him in fits," Sasuke said with an air of boredom. "The whole idea of the Japanese government letting the US military recruit their soliders from here just really worked his nerves."

"That's it?!" Naruto cried. "That's his only reasoning?!"

"Well... I think he knew the guy that your father hunted down," the Uchiha explained. "They were cousins or... friends... or... something..."

Apparently, that was all Naruto wanted to know because he hopped over to a new subject from there. "Now that I think about it, you look a lot like him," he said, nearly whispering.

Sasuke felt Gaara wiggle a bit next to him.

"I didn't know about it," the redhead claimed, trying to defend himself a little. "If I did, I wouldn't have even talked to you..."

"Why not?" the whiskered one asked dropping his furiouslity down to a dull, miffed state..

"Well, Blondie, if your dad had killed the only people I thought existed in my family, would you talk to me?" Gaara didn't give him a chance to respond. "I would kill you if you did. That's just inconsiderate."

"... That doesn't explain it for me," Naruto mumbled. "I'm not shunning you because of it..."

The three boys on the couch put on stupid faces and looked at each other a few times. Finally, they all asked, "What?"

"I like Red," Naruto declared. "It's his dad that I hate. There's no reason not to like him... I don't think..." He took a second before nodding to himself. "That's right. But I'm seriously not liking you two," he said pointing at Sasuke then Neji.

"Why not?" the older brunette asked.

"You two knew about it," Naruto said rather matter of factly. "You should have told me... or him at the least, shit."

"So sorry that we didn't want to rain on your lovely parade," Sasuke said in mock apology. "Didn't think you'd want me jeopardizing your lovely friendshitp with that lovely tidbit of information."

"I think I liked you better when you were a kid," the blonde said gesturing to the television behind him. "Really, you seemed a lot nicer."

"And you looked a lot more tolerable."

"You're an ass, you know that?" Naruto asked as he strode over to tower high above Sasuke. When his fianné was looking up, Naruto lifted a foot and pressed it against his chest. He didn't 'kick' him though.

"And you were in love with each other," Neji added, rolling his eyes. "I told you we were opposites back then."

"You're saying Red doesn't get hurt?" Naruto asked, never removing his foot.

"You're serious?" Neji scoffed. "Hell no he doesn't. Never. Only things that affect him now are terrible bouts of stupidity."

"That's not nice," Gaara said from the other end of the couch. "At least I don't lose every bout to someone smaller than I am."

"No one's smaller than you," Neji growled.

"Regardless," Gaara said with a sigh. "I can still kick him around a bit. That's a lot more than you can say for yourself."

"Hmph... at least I know what's going on in the world."

"Can you please stop?" Naruto whined. "It's really not that interesting to watch you two fight, thanks."

"And it isn't that amusing to have your foot in my chest," Sasuke said from under him. "Would you mind moving it?"

"I would."

"Well take it off anyway," the raven growled.

Naruto ignored him. "Hey, Neji," he called instead. "Do the chicks here like... not sleep in the house? I only ever see them at dinner."

"Could we possibly know where that question came from?" Neji asked just a bit thrown off. "If I recall, Sasuke was asking you to move your foot."

"... Oh! It was a bit before that," the blonde explained. "You said something about the opposites again I think... That got me on the tape... which got me on Hinata... who is the only person that doesn't bug me besides her sister... and then I thought 'Man, I haven't seen them in a while...'"

"...Sure," Neji said shaking away the wordy reasoning. "You don't see them because they don't come on this end of the house. Why? I don't know, you'd have to ask them, but they just stay on the other end. Except for every now and then, Hinabi'll run down here, and Hinata will come after her."

"...Do they think we're going to eat them or what?"

Neji scoffed. "That's probably why Hinata stays down there. Temari's got anger management issues. The Mrs. just does everything she needs to back there..."

"...Are we allowed back there?" Naruto asked. He'd thought about it for maybe ten seconds before nodding for himself. "I want to see what's so special about the other end of this place."

"Ugh... I liked you so much more in the video," Sasuke said. Before Naruto could throw a fit, however, Sasuke'd gotten his own foot into action. He pushed Naruto's ankle, the one holding him up, and sent him crashing to the floor. Of course it got him a kick in the chin from the foot on his chest, but it must've been worth it judging by the smirk of triumph he so readily donned.

"You are such an ass!!" Naruto bellowed from his disgruntled position on the floor. Straightening out and propping himself up on his elbows, he sent Sasuke an icy leer. "Honestly, I hate you, Uchiha."

"I'm fairly certain that you don't, Uzumaki," the brunette countered. He leaned forward a bit and extended a hand to Naruto. Looking away, the blonde took it and got to his feet.

"I really do want to go to the other side of the house," he said once he was standing.

"So go," the room's remaining occupants said.

"I want to change first, thank you!!" the azure-eyed boy snapped back.

"So change," Sasuke said rolling his eyes. "No one's stopping you."

"I don't have clothes, teme," Naruto ground out. "Or did you forget that I showed up with no luggage??"

Sasuke sighed in irritation. "You need an outfit from me?"

"I think I'm only going to fit _your_ clothes, if that's what you mean."

Sasuke stood up and pushed Naruto back a bit by putting just a little force on his collarbone. As he walked pass him, he said, "I hope you don't mind wearing black. Everything else is in the wash."


	10. Rivals

last chapter... you found out what happened, who done it, and why, correct?? this is more so fillerness that was just fun than actual plotness. and the opening is kind of weak and... not well written... but... you find out some stuffs like.. what's wrong with sasu, finally... and how that happened. and... ooh!! there's a new rivalry!! hellz yah!! urmm... that's it. I've lost my talent for long, meaningful comments because, you know, i haven't done it for so long XD hope you all don't hate me for my absense!!

* * *

"You really weren't kidding!!" Naruto cried into the large closet he was standing in. "You really don't have anything but black left?!" 

Sasuke shrugged from behind him. "It's hot. You don't generally wear that color outside."

Naruto glanced at him over his shoulder. "But you have so much of it."

Sasuke shrugged again before leaning against on of his bedposts. "I like it. That's why it's the only thing left." He pulled his hands from his pockets before crossing his arms and sighing, "We get our laundary back after two days."

"It's sad that you're so emo, teme," the blonde said, stepping further into the huge closet. He heard soft footsteps behind him as Sasuke follwed him inside.

"Emo, huh?" Sasuke asked. When Naruto had stopped walking, Sasuke made his way in front of him. Leaning forward a slight bit just to get in his face and make him mad, Sasuke said, "Last time I checked, emo people didn't go around proclaiming their love to unwilling listeners."

"Yeah? But they are masochists, and they do wear black, and they are pale."

"Any more to that rant?" Sasuke asked rather sardonically.

"They're pesimists as well."

Straightening up, Sasuke said, "I don't particularly like you, Uzumaki."

"I thought you loved me?" the blonde asked, pulling out a pair of shorts that he thought actually looked a bit decent.

"Doesn't mean I like you though," the brunette grumbled. "I don't like Hyuuga either."

"Do you like your brother then?" Naruto dropped the shorts and moved on, scanning the levels of hanging garments as he went.

"Excuse me?"

"Itachi, right?" He waited for Sasuke to nod. "Yeah, him. Do you like him?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the older boy asked just a bit crossly.

"Nothing," Naruto said slowly. "It was just a question. Calm down or you'll catch an aneurism."

Sasuke snorted.

"Don't get pissy," Naruto sighed with an aura of motherly impatience.

"Can I ask you something then?"

"You just did," Naruto clucked distractedly.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "Why aren't you upset?"

"About... Oh, you mean Red."

"Yes," Sasuke said. He found one of the walls and propped himself up against it. "I'd expect you, of all people, to be upset about the whole thing."

"I am."

"...It damn sure doesn't show," the Uchiha sniffed.

"Well there are better things to do with time and effort than get livid and stay that way," Naruto said over his shoulder, eyes narrowed into hatred. Turning back around he added, "Besides, you're the person I want to take it out on. That wouldn't be a good idea on my behalf."

"Why not?"

"I tend to slander the person I'm yelling at. Past experiences tell me that it isn't wise to provoke you with that language."

Sasuke sent Naruto a smirk that he didn't see behind his back. "Who says there needs to be language?" he asked devilishly.

"Me." Naruto looked at him again. "It's not like this morning. I'm over the whole... people not liking me thing."

"Why don't people like you anyway, Uzumaki?" Sasuke began to make his way over to where Naruto was. There wasn't an interuption either. He'd reached his destination just as Naruto was placing a shirt back in its proper place. "You seem like a very likable person."

Naruto gave a start when Sasuke's sinewy arms encircled his own just above the elbow. Recovering quickly he said, "I'm not going to let you hold me like that, you know."

"Why not?"

"I'm not your bitch, teme."

"Hmm... I can improvise," the older teen said loosening his hold on Naruto a bit.

"Improvise?"

"Improvise," Sasuke repeated. He turned Naruto in his arms before pushing him back against the closest wall.

"Are you deaf?" the blonde asked. "I said I'm not your bitch, Uchiha."

"I know; I heard you." Sasuke then pulled Naruto in a loop so that their positions were switched. Moving his arms so that they were hung loosly around Naruto's neck, he said, "There. Now you aren't. So tell me."

Giving in, Naruto sighed. "Why does it even matter?" he asked, placing his hands on the wall on either side of Sasuke. "It's not your problem. And way over here, no one cares about it like they do back at school."

"Then why the hell does it matter if you tell me?" Sasuke countered. "It's not like I'm jumping to the US and telling all of your friends that you told me."

"You'd flaunt it around here, Uchiha."

"I wouldn't," Sasuke said, tightening his grip on Naruto a little. Pulling the blonde closer a bit, he pushed their foreheads together. "So tell me."

"Well... If you seriously want to know..." Naruto stopped to pout and look away for a seond or two in thought. Returning his gaze, he asked, "Why are you so bent on finding out anyway?"

"It'll make us more comfortable," was the response Sasuke gave him.

"Bullshit."

"That's my reasoning," Sasuke said with a shrug. "Now tell me what it is, koi."

"Looks like you've had a mood change since the basement," Naruto commented.

"The mood swings are what make me Sasuke," he said dully. "Stop stalling and tell me dammit."

"Fine, fine," the blonde said with a huff of annoyance. "There are a few people, at school I mean, that think I was part of the fire. Like... they think I set it up because I didn't talk about it at all after it happened."

"That's it?" Sasuke mocked. "A few people at school say they don't believe you, and you're hated? Your thought process is--"

"I wasn't done!!"

Sasuke got quiet.

"You wanted to hear it, so shut up and listen!" Naruto waited until his sudden fury had died down a bit. "They didn't just say that..."

"What else did they say then?"

"...They said a lot of things, really. Horrible things... I don't know why they hated me so much, but one day they went crazy with it. They said that I slept with the school slut in my freshman year. And when I denied it, they asked me why I was so offeneded because 'everyone else did it already.'"

"So?"

"They called me out about my sexuality in the middle of the locker room, Uchiha!!" Naruto turned his gaze to the floor and stared at it hard as if it was going to give him an answer to his problems. Without looking up, he said, "And I was so shocked and stupid that I didn't say anything. I just got dressed and left."

"And I'm guessing there's more to it...?"

Naruto nodded grimly. "It was around the school in about twenty seconds. Pretty soon, everyone was asking me about it. I just walked away every time without saying anything. Everyone thought I was gay after that. And everyone just left me alone. There isn't a single person in that school that isn't homophobic, so they didn't care what I said about it after the whole episode."

"I thought you were...?"

"Hm?" Naruto pulled his head up and took in the puzzled face on Sasuke's face.

"I thought you did like other boys, koi."

Naruto shook his head. "Nu-uh. I really just don't care."

"...You're bi then?"

Naruto shrugged. "If you want to call it that. I meant that I really didn't care at all. I've never had a girlfriend, so I can't say which is better, you know? Never really been attracted to anyone at all."

"At all?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"At all," Naruto repeated. "I never felt the need to have someone else there."

"So... Wait a minute," Sasuke ordered. "You pulled me off topic. Do you not have friends back home? You were really ranting about them last night."

"I've got friends."

"I thought everyone was homophobic."

"They are."

"Then how are they your friends, if the whole place thinks you're queer?" Sasuke asked.

"They were my friends before those dumb fucks said anything, and they know where I stand on the relationship thing."

Sasuke thought about that. It made sense. If one day Itachi just up and said he was gay, no one would believe him. If some random person they didn't know was accused of it, they'd believe it in a heartbeat.

"You say 'everyone' like there are only a few people who are interested in you."

Naruto shrugged. "That's because it's true. There're only ten people over there that give a damn about me at all. Honest."

"Naruto... Why the hell didn't you do anything?" Sasuke asked in a degrading tone. "You can knock me to the floor, but you can't tell a few high school fucks to shut up? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"My only family had just died, Uchiha," Naruto growled, putting his hands on Sasuke's hips. "They left me in the middle of New York after two weeks of living there," he hissed, squeezing Sasuke. Ignoring how his fiancé winced as his fingernails bit into his pale flesh, Naruto went on. "I wasn't the happiest kid at the moment with the fact that I was in a foster home either. I had every right not to do anything."

"Naruto," Sasuke breathed. "Calm down... your nails are more like claws right now..."

Naruto pulled himself from his disheartening memories and gave a start. He pulled his hands away from Sasuke and put them back with the palms where his nails had been cutting into the pale skin.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"I won't say you're fine, but you're damn lucky I'm in the empathetic mood right now."

"I said I'm sorry," Naruto mumbled as he began to work his hands ease the sharp pain he's started. "Life's too short to hold grudges, you know."

"I like to keep my grudges close to heart, thanks," Sasuke said while Naruto still rubbed at his hips, effectively turning the piercing throb into a dull ache.

"Then what makes your brother so special?" the blonde asked still trying to rub away the inpressions he'd made.

"...What?"

Naruto tried to smirk, but he wanted to laugh at the same time; it was more like an evil sneer. "I know you heard me. I know he did something to effectively fuck you up because of that little lovefest yesterday. Tell me why there isn't a grudge on him."

"For an idiot, you damn sure pay attention," Sasuke grumbled.

"Mm-hm!" Naruto agreed with a curt nod. "So tell me what he did, and why you aren't holding it against him."

"Something tells me that it's none of your business, dobe."

"That's not fair at all," Naruto chided. "I told you what you asked with almost no protest."

"Ah, but you're going to be wearing my clothes," Sasuke countered. "I think that's an even trade."

"What would get you to tell me then?" Naruto asked all too knowingly.

"What else besides a kiss?"

Naruto stuck out his tongue in disgust. Sasuke was just so reliable for that kind of answer and so cliché sometimes that it could make anyone sick.

"You're so predictable," he said dropping his impaired act. "Really, you should try being a bit more tactful with these kinds of things."

"Why?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Because then I might actually be inclined to do it," he said letting go of Sasuke's hips. Sasuke refused to lessen his hold though. "Get off."

"I thought you wanted to know?" Sasuke asked. He supported his entire weight on the wall, and Naruto was pulled down with him. "And you're a demanding brat, remember? I know it'll eat you like hell until you find out."

Naruto sent him a scowl. "You know I hate you, right?"

"Maybe," Sasuke said with a fake gesture of boredom. "But it's only a little, so it shouldn't kill you to kiss me, right?"

"Why risk the chance to find out?"

"Because we're getting married when you hit sixteen," Sasuke said, "and you're going to have to do it anyway."

Naruto scoffed. "I don't remember agreeing to that part yet."

"You eventually are," the brunette reasoned. "Why prolong it?"

"Because I'm not giving in to someone like _you_," the younger of the two declared.

"Someone like me?"

"A masochistic egotist that thinks he can win me over just like that."

For the first time, Sasuke looked away from Naruto and up at the ceiling. "I could've sworn that I already did that...during airsoft!! That's right."

"Shut up," Naruto ordered as he turned red and looked at the floor from the corner of his eye. "That was different."

"How so?"

"I was actually grateful to have you around then," the blonde said with an odd smile as his hands got back to Sasuke's sides.

"Why the grin?"

"I find your persistence enjoyable." Naruto put their foreheads back together and let out a sigh. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that I wouldn't mind taking you up on your offer."

"Well, now that you're back in the sentimental mood," Sasuke began, "let's pretend that you don't know any better."

"You're being awful chummy about this," Naruto noted. "Quite contrary from the Uchiha I've come to know, actually."

"Well," Sasuke said closing his eyes and frowing a bit, "I'm normally not so good at getting my way with you, am I?"

"True," Naruto concurred, letting his last breath linger on his lips a bit before pressing them lightly against Sasuke's. When he let go, their breaths mingled for a short while before Sasuke pulled him back down again. This time, Naruto didn't pull away from him. Instead, he pushed up against the brunette between him and the wall because kissing someone just feels weird with distance between each other. Pretty soon, tongues were joining as well.

It was like a repeat of earlier that morning except for the fact that Sasuke was restricted in movement. He couldn't even stand up straight while Naruto and he ravished each other. Really, he didn't mind though because Naruto made up for his crushing weight with his exploring appendage that lapped at every crevice it could find.

When they'd finally released each other to breathe, Sasuke asked, "Since when are you that willing?"

Without bothering to move back out of Sasuke's face, Naruto responsed with a smile. "Since I'm hell-bent on finding something out."

"That's all?" Sasuke nearly whined.

"It wasn't a bad exchange either," the blonde said with a Cheshire cat grin.

"I'm guessing you want to know now then, right?" Sasuke asked, slightly miffed at that bit of intel.

"If you don't mind."

Sasuke sighed before looking to the ceiling again. He closed his eyes against the harsh closet light and said, "Fine... When I was about... eight, I think, something happened."

After a pause, Naruto gave him an odd look. "And that something was what??"

"He burned me in his bedroom." Sasuke heard Naruto gasp, so he brought his gaze back down. "It was an accident though!"

"Then why's he so upset about it?"

Sasuke chuckled. "I actually have scars from the whole thing."

Naruto took a step back to leave the embrace and look at Sasuke. He was still in his pajamas: black silky capris, black sliky top with no sleeves and a sash... He didn't see any scars. Anywhere. He thought about it, and he didn't remember seeing any the night before, when he was forced to change in the same room as Sasuke, either.

Deciding that he wasn't crazy, Naruto asked, "Where?"

Sasuke took a few seconds to think about it. After a whlie, he shrugged and said, "Everywhere."

Naruto, ignoring the fact that the statement couldn't possible be true at all, asked, "Then why don't you hold a grudge if you've been scarred for life... literally?"

"It was an accident, and it was my fault." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and added, "Besides, he's like my best friend or whatever you want to call it."

"Best friend, huh?"

Sasuke nodded. "I even sleep in the bed with him."

Naruto made to make a point, but the words stopped in his throat. He made several more attempts only to meet the same failure. He decided on just shaking his head in disbelief and asking, "What??"

"Ever since I was... five I think." Sasuke crossed his legs at the ankles as well. "I had serious night terrors, so he would come in here, get me, and take me to his room. That's what was going on when that accident happened. I had a spas attack, and he dropped me on the bed. I hit it too hard, and it bumped into... a lava lamp I think."

"So?"

"That hit a shelf that held this retarded neon sign that he shouldn't have even had," Sasuke explained. "The sign went berserk and sparks sprayed out everywhere. Most of them hit me. They even burned through my clothes," he added with a miserable sigh.

"...So... what? Do you glow in the dark or something?" Naruto asked clearly lost.

Sasuke just shook his head. "More like fry in the sun actually." Naruto looked bewildered, so he tried to explain it. "Why else would I be so damn pale, dobe? I can't stay out there too long, or it shows up all over my body and then starts eating away at my skin."

"That's real nasty," the blonde said, thinking about it. He pictured Sasuke walking down the street in his black attire. Then, the sun would pop out from behind a cloud and aim its rays right at him. All of the sudden, Sasuke'd break out into some funky rash and collapse while his skin burnt black. "Yeah... real nasty... Why are you always wearing black if it draws in sunlight then?"

Sasuke shrugged again. "It's the only color I look good in. Everything else reflects on my face and makes me look sickly. Especially green and yellow."

"Red? Blue maybe?"

"Red makes me look hot or embarrassed or something..." The raven stopped to think for a minute. "I think blue's okay though..."

"Then get some," Naruto advised as he went back to looking for something to wear. "Black isn't so bold anymore."

"Sure. I'll leave the house one day and melt while I look for clothes."

Naruto gave up his search as Sasuke finished his sarcastic statement. "Then don't. I don't care. But really: black isn't a Naruto color. I'm going to look for some clothes like... now. Are you coming?"

"...You're doing what now?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I'm going to go shopping for clothes."

"With what money?"

"Yours of course," Naruto said exasperatedly. "You're coming with me regardless of anything."

"...You want me to die," Sasuke said staring at his fiancé incredulously.

"I won't drag you around on sidewalk sales," the blonde explained. "It'll be an actual store in an actual building away from the actual sun."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Don't be so offended that I want to live a few more years," Sasuke snorted sardonically.

"Sorry," Naruto huffed out. "Just... get dressed? Please? Then we can leave."

"Are you not dressing?" the brunette asked.

Naruto shook his head. "Nah. These things have pockets, so they're fine!!" he said patting his bottoms.

Sasuke, still a bit uneasy about the whole idea, just nodded. "Alright," he said, "I'll get dressed..."

"Quickly?"

"Fine." He grabbed a random outfit that was hung together and tore it down from the rack. Naruto sat on the bed and waited as Sasuke quickly changed out his sleepwear for a pair of black jeans and a black, long-sleeved hoodie with a thin, black T-shirt underneath. "Happy?"

"...You do know that it's hot, right?" Naruto asked when he caught a glimpse of Sasuke's getup.

"I'm not going to be outside, remember?"

"...That's right," Naruto sighed. Standing from his seat on the bed, he said, "Let's go then. It's about time I put that perverted old driver to use."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey, Kid!" the old driver greeted as Naruto slid into the back of the limo. He had to make sure he wasn't crazy when a hooded figure clambored in behind him. Still staring, he waited until the hood was taken down and saw that it was Sasuke. Shocked, Jiraiya had to say something. "Kid... you got him out of the house?"

Naruto looked up from his undignified position as he was searching for a movie under the seat. Looking as if it would catch him some kind of inkling of the conversation, he asked, "Who?"

"Young Sir Uchiha," the white-haired man tried to whisper.

"...Teme you mean?"

Jiraiya nodded, only a little unsure.

"He'll do anything I say," the blonde said with a shrug. "It's really not that big of a deal. Didn't think being a finacé could be so fun until the day after I met him."

"Speaking of which!!" the driver said with renewed vigor. "Did you tell her off or what, Kid?"

It only took Naruto about five seconds to remember what he'd said about his _fiancée_ when he first met Jiraiya. When that memory came back, he said, "Shut up you old pervert," and went back to his movie hunting.

Sasuke just looked on as the whole spectacle took place. Since he didn't go out often, he grew tired of them and just stared out of the window. Even if they weren't moving, seeing the trees and flowers so close up other than in the garden in the mansion was a splendor that Sasuke wanted to take part in. He pulled his hood back up and rolled down the window so that he could lean out. He just watched the autumn flowers shake in the breeze and give way when a bug decided to rest on one of them. The wind played with the drawstrings on his sweater as well as the bits of hair that poked out from under his hood. The tiny fall gusts made the skin on his cheeks prickle with goosebumps, and his nose itched with the sudden bite of cold even though it was rather warm. It was nice.

The tap on his shoulder was accompanied with an irritated groan. "Teme... Sit down..."

Looking back at Naruto, Sasuke scoffed and pulled back into the limo. He dropped his hood again and rolled up the window. "Let's go then."

Naruto nodded and told Jiraiya the kind of place he wanted to go to since he didn't know anything about the surrounding shops. Sitting back in his seat again, he nudged Sasuke's shoulder, pulling the older boy out of this thoughts.

"What?" the raven asked just a bit distractedly. He turned from his window gazing and gave Naruto a stupid, slacked look.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were enjoying this outing," Naruto teased.

"Shut up," Sasuke ordered, turning away from him to stare absentmindedly at the small TV that was still playing previews about up-coming dvds.

Naruto poked him in the side. "Are you really?" he asked once he had Sasuke's annoyed attention again. "Do you actually _like_ being outside, Uchiha?"

Reluctant to answer, the young Uchiha just sniffed again and drew up his hood to lean out of the window, chin in hand. Deciding that it was just best to answer rather than be asked repeatedly, Sasuke said, "Yes, dobe, I like it. I miss the outside really."

Leaning over himself, because he was used to having conversations at close range, Naruto asked another question. "Why don't you come out then?"

"I can't," was the cut-and-dried answer. "I didn't even come to pick you up... or did you forget that?"

Naruto drew back a bit at the sudden hostility. Wavering slightly, he said, "I never really worried about it... It wasn't much of a concern to me."

"And that makes me feel great, Naruto."

"I didn't mean it like that," the blonde said, pulling back completely. He was on the other end of the seat now. "I just meant that it didn't bother me. I did wonder why you weren't there-- just thought you had your reasons is all."

Sasuke turned slightly to catch a glimpse of Naruto's profile. And he couldn't see it. Naruto had drawn his legs up and was staring out of his own window. Through the reflection on the glass, Sasuke could see that he wasn't particularly happy. Turning back to his own so that the tinge on his cheeks couldn't be seen, he said, "Sorry about that."

He didn't get a real response; just that 'uh-huh' that doesn't really mean anything. It just says 'I don't really forgive you, but I'll let you feel better anyway.'

Without turning, Sasuke reached over and gave him a light shove. "Really. Please don't get somber now. Not when I have to sit in the car with you at least; I really don't feel like getting you in better spirits. Too tiring."

Naruto chuckled slightly and uncurled, leaning over to give Sasuke a half-assed punch in the shoulder. "Bastard."

"Feeling better?" the brunette asked after allowing himself to get hit in the back. When he got his affirmative, he sighed and pulled back in the window. "Good," he said looking up at the ceiling. "I was starting to fry out there, and I wasn't coming back until you weren't despondent anymore."

"... What?"

Sasuke sighed again. Dropping his hood yet another time, he turned to let Naruto see. A splash of black had shown up on the bridge of his nose; it didn't look like dirt.

Understanding almost imediately, Naruto gasped. "Don't kill yourself, dumbass!!"

Sasuke just shrugged and rubbed at the spot he knew was there. "It was just a way to motivate myself. Get it done quicker, you know?"

"Still," Naruto argued, "don't disfigure yourself."

"Do you honestly care?"

"Well," the blonde started, "if I'm going to be seen in public with you often, then yes. I do."

"What the hell makes you think that I'll be coming out after this?" Sasuke snapped back.

Naruto just raised his hands in a slow defense. "Hey," he said, "it's a normal thing. I'm not sitting in the house all day; that's not what I do. Besides, people are going to see us if I decide to go along with the whole wedding thing. I'd rather you weren't singed."

"If, huh?"

"Yes, if," Naruto snorted. "I'm still not so sure if I want to consent to it.

"Ah, so there's still not a definate no."

"Shut up," Naruto ordered. Letting his 'anger' drip away, he asked, "Is that going to be okay?"

"Is what going to be okay?" Sasuke asked back.

"That... thing on your nose," the blonde said, awkwardly passing a finger over his own.

"That? Yeah," the pale teen said, relaxing again. He'd actually thought that something was wrong. "It'll be gone in a few minutes. I wasn't out there long you know."

"Well excuse me for a little worry." Naruto crossed his limbs and turned up his nose. "And no, I didn't know. I haven't the slightest idea of how that condition of yours works."

"It's whatever," Sasuke said with a sigh. After a pause passed through the vehicle again, he groaned and pulled his hood up one last time. Pressing his back against the door, he leaned his head against the closed window. Propping his feet up on Naruto's lap, Sasuke soon found himself asleep for the rest of the ride.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Get up you lazy ass," Naruto growled, shaking Sasuke by the shoulder. The young Uchiha was still a bit groggy from his nap and had to take a few moments to regather his thoughts. He yawned and took in his surroundings and the crick in his neck as signs that he was still in Naruto's limo. So he wasn't dreaming; he really did leave the house... without telling his father... or Itachi... How lovely.

Slamming his head against the window, he groaned. "I can't believe you really got me out here..."

"You act like you didn't want to come," Naruto observed pushing Sasuke's feet from his lap. They fell to the floor with very distinct thuds. "Are you wearing boots, Uchiha?"

"Weighed down sneakers," the brunette explained getting to the normal sitting position. "They keep me quick. But... think we can get inside sometime soon? This place is cramped."

"Oh, yeah." Naruto opened his door and crawled out first. Reaching back in, he extended a hand to Sasuke and pulled him out to join him. The sun was unusually brutal for that time of year, and Sasuke hated it. He nudged Naruto to signify his irritance, and his point made it across. They walked close together ((Sasuke on the inside of the sidewalk so he wasn't dazzled by the sheen of oncoming traffic)) as they made it to the clothing store that Jiraiya had recommended. Sasuke was happy to be in the air conditioned space rather than the blazing outside for once.

"Don't just stand there, Uchiha," Naruto called, tugging him by the sleeve. "And take your hood off, please? It's really bothering me. You're like the anti-KKK or something..."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke was obliged to remove his hood and follow Naruto around the store. After a while though, it just got boring. He wished he'd brought his music along so that he wouldn't have to listen to the crap they played over the loudspeakers.

After about the fifteenth sigh, Naruto caught on to his boredom and decided to do something about it.

Turning around rather abuptly, so much so as to startle his companion, Naruto said, "Chill. Go sit down somewhere it you want, Sasuke. I'm really not making you walk around with me."

Sasuke scoffed and stood his ground. "I'm not leaving."

"Well why not?" Naruto huffed. "I'd rather not listen to your silent complaining, thanks."

"I'd be ambushed," the older teen whispered. "That's why I didn't take my hood down."

"...Ambushed?" Naruto repeated incredulously. When Sasuke nodded, he just shook his head. "Why exactly is that, Uchiha?"

Sasuke just shrugged. "I don't know. It's like.. I'm some great spectacle that is rarely revealed... which is sort of true, I guess."

"I think you're just a bit over pompous," Naruto said, turning back to his rack.

"If you say so..." Sasuke left from Naruto's side and sat in a chair by the dressing rooms. He kept his head bowed, and his hood was up again so that he could doze a bit. He wasn't surprised when Naruto came by and shook him awake again.

"Why are you so tired??" he asked.

"I share a bed with you," the raven offered. "Now, what do you want?"

Naruto brandished a bundle of clothes. "Dressing rooms, Uchiha. I'm going to try clothes on."

Sasuke took one look at the pile and was consumed by instant hatred. "You're using one of my catalogs next time," he said, more so demanding it.

"...Is there more than just black?"

"Yes."

"Then I will," Naruto confirmed. "But, for today, I'm shopping. For three outfits actually. I'm going to try a few on now, if you don't mind."

Sasuke just waved him off and stayed in his chair. Later, in two minute intervals, Naruto would come out and ask him what his opinion was on an outfit he'd thrown together. That skill, in Sasuke's eyes, was not one that Naruto had very much off. He only matched a few items successfully, and Sasuke had to deem them worthy of purchase. Lucky for him, Naruto agreed. They were simple outfits, but they did the job. The one he decided to wear out had three pieces: a white tank top, an orange plaid button-up that stayed open, and blue jeans. The other two were scanned at the check out, and they were ready to leave.

"Never again will I come out with you," Sasuke grumbled as they left the store. The sun had been behind a cloud at that time, so he didn't rip his hood back over his head. Instead, he walked down the street, like a normal person, back to the limo to deposit the clothes that he'd bought for Naruto. As they were just closing the trunk though, Sasuke felt a tug on the back of his pullover. He turned around and saw a little girl.

"Hiya!!" she cried, beaming the sunniest smile he'd ever seen. It was so sunny, in fact, that it made him wince. It was almost disgusting how happy she looked. Regardless, he kept his manners about.

"Uh... hi."

"I'm Keiko!! What's yourrrrr name??"

Naruto leaned over to whisper in Sasuke's ear. "Hey... should you really be chatting it up with little girls??"

Ignoring him, Sasuke swatted at his ear and gave Keiko his attention. "It's Sasuke..."

"Uchiiiiiiiha Saaaaaasuke??" she asked, dragging out his name so that it didn't sound real anymore.

That worried him a bit. "...Why do you know that??"

"My big sister told me!!"

Sasuke grabbed onto the sleeve of Naruto's shirt as well as the front of his hood. It was a precautiion. "How old's your big sister??"

Keiko just smiled up at him. When he prompted an answer again, she said, "Fifteeeeen."

Sasuke took one sweep the street to see if he could find her. His terrible luck had the place littered with people.

"Keiko... is she here?"

"Oh, her and her friends are right behind you," she said, still shining out her best smile.

Sasuke quickly glanced over his shoulder and, sure enough, he saw a group of giggling girls. No... two... three..? He heaved a huge sigh. Apparently, Keiko had called her friends to see the rare marvel that was Uchiha Sasuke.

Pulling Naruto close by the sleeve, it was Sasuke's turn to whisper. "We're going back in the store."

"Why?"

"Because I don't come outside," the raven explained. Naruto wanted to protest, but Sasuke had grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him along the sidewalk. He dashed through the double doors and disappeared toward the back with his startled fiancé without so much as responding to the employee's question of why they were back so soon. He was lucky to see that the dressing rooms lady wasn't there, and continued through that small hallway. Sasuke dragged Naruto into one of the larger stalls and locked the door behind them. Then he just sat down and waited.

Dumbfounded at first, Naruto didn't say anything. He just stood and watched Sasuke as he waited out whatever apocalyptic force had driven him to do such a thing. When he was finally fed up, however, the blonde had to say something.

"What the hell was that?!"

Sasuke gave him half a look before a sigh escaped him. Staring at the opposite wall as he pulled his legs up on the bench with him and stretched out, the brunette said, "Leave the room and go see."

"What??"

"Just go see, koi."

Naruto gave him a weird look, but he did as he was told. He left the shelter of the dressing stall and dared to venture out to the main part of the clothing store. But, when he'd finally reached his destination, Naruto wished he hadn't left. There were frantic throngs of girls throughout the racks, checking under them and behind mannequins. It was actually shameful at how they were hunting for whatever it was. Naruto was shocked to hear one girl squeal out an answer for him.

"Aww!!" she cried as she rushed up to one of her friends. "I can't find him!! And Anju said that Uchiha Sasuke had the most angelic face a man could own..."

In complete denial and shock, Naruto just had to walk up and ask if she really did mean the Sasuke he knew. When she gave him an affirmative, he nearly lost it. "All of you girls are really in here freaking out over that pompous asshole??"

And then they nearly lost it. Naruto thought he'd go deaf from the various high pitched wails and shouts of contradiction. He was glad to safely retreat while two girls caused a spectacle after one had said, "No one's better than _my_ Sasuke-kun!!"

When he was in the housing of the changing stall again, he collapsed onto the bench at Sasuke's feet. With a wisp-like sigh, he said, "You weren't kidding..."

"I wasn't."

When Sasuke propped his feet up on Naruto, he felt the weight this time. Frowning at the offending sneakers that made Sasuke's feet heavier than they really should have been, Naruto thought about taking them off. After a while, he did and was relieved of the crushing weight on his thighs.

"Well, Uchiha," the blonde started, "I give you kudos on your populariy. Tell me, is your brother this bad too?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No. He's able to leave the house, so it's not as rare as the Second Coming like seeing me."

"Well, you're one lucky bastard, Uchiha. I'd love to have girls fawn over me so bad that they got into fights about it."

After about the fifth time, Sasuke was able to pick up on what it was exactly that had been bothering him. He'd thought about it while Nauto was gone, but he just wasn't able to put a finger on it. Now, hearing again, he caught what it was that had him uneasy.

"You know that there are other people in my family, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then why are referring to me as 'Uchiha', koi?"

Naruto had to drop his thoughts and give Sasuke his full attention. "H-have I been doing that?" he asked refusing to believe it. When Sasuke nodded, he went into a short fit of hyperventilation. That little panic attack was enough to freak Sasuke out to the extent that he pulled his feet from Naruto's lap and scooted to sit next to him.

"Are you alright?"

Naruto frantically shook his head. When he was asked why not, he was rather quick to answer. "That's a defense mechanism. Dad used to do it too. He told me that he used to do it a lot when he knew something was going to happen. It's a last resort."

"...For what??"

"To make two things stand out as different." Naruto stopped holding his chest and slowly got his breathing back to normal. When he was settled down, he went on. "I think I'm doing it because I want to make it clear that you're Uchiha, and I'm Uzumaki And that it's not changing..."

"..." The way Naruto explained himself made it just a bit confusing, but Sasuke was sure he understood. A very smug smile accompanied him in saying, "You think you're going to say yes... don't you, koi?"

"Sh-shut up!!" Naruto ordered, bumping into him by swaying a bit. "Maybe that's not it!! Maybe I just don't like you right now, and it's--!!" Naruto hadn't noticed that his eyes were closed during his rant until he had to open them at the unsettling heat he felt on his left cheek. Turning, he saw that Sasuke had leaned in and not moved since he'd started his tirade. The closeness made Naruto jumped back in surprise, and he wound up hitting his head off of the wall.

"W-What the hell, Uchiha?!"

"Calm down," Sasuke said easing back. "Your outbursts are going to make them come back here."

Naruto settled a little and sat normally again after that. The idea of those girls coming back around was enough to make his skin crawl. He really didn't like the thought of seeing them again.

"Calm down," Sasuke said again, this time putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He bristled at the touch. "What the hell are you so tense for?"

Naruto didn't offer an answer that time.

Sighing, Sasuke removed his hand and turned on the bench so that his back was to Naruto. He pushed and used the younger teen as means to prop himself up. He figured that, as long as Naruto was scared stiff, he might as well be useful. Naruto, however, did not agree. When Sasuke had just settled in, the blonde sat a little further back, and the older teen tumbled down into his lap.

Sasuke scoffed up at Naruto and closed his eyes against the harsh lights above him. "That wasn't so smart, koi. I prefer this rather than sitting on your shoulder."

Naruto rolled his eyes and swatted Sasuke on the head. "You truely are an ass, Uchiha," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Maybe," the raven said with an odd shrug, "but that must be a good thing since you love me so soon."

"Really... I'm not one of those girls. I don't love you, Uchiha."

"You're so mean," Sasuke mumbled, pulling off the crestfallen look fairly well. He picked up Naruto's right hand and interlocked the fingers with his own. "Why do you act like you don't like me, koi?"

"Because I don't," Naruto hissed. "You're annoying, and you don't know when to stop."

"I thought you found my persistance enjoyable?" the brunette countered. "Tell me I didn't dream up the whole closet scene, Naru-chan." He let out a fake sigh. "That kiss was so lovely too. It nearly topped the one from this morning..."

"Arrgh!!" Naruto pulled his hand from Sasuke's grasp and joined it with the other one to close them around his throat. Keeping his hold loose he growled, "Really, I don't like you..."

Even with the malice dripping from every fiber of Naruto's being Sasuke didn't falter. While Naruto was still clamped around his throat, the young Uchiha managed to speak. "Please, Naruto, take your hands off... It scares me."

"It does not."

Sasuke shrugged. "Worth a try. But really-- get off, dobe."

"Why?"

"Because I've got an army of girls in the front of the store that would quickly tear you apart if I called them in and asked them to."

"... I'm tired of saying I don't like you," Naruto grumbled, removing his hands from around Sasuke's throat.

"Then you should just stop all together," the pale teen said, sitting up. He rubbed at the back of his neck and pricked his ears to listen to the rest of the store. Surprisingly, he didn't hear anything. "I think they're gone," he whispered.

"Then why are you talking like that?" Naruto whispered back.

"Because they might be hiding, idiot." Sasuke stood from his spot and pushed open the door to the stall. He looked out into the rest of the dressing room and didn't see anyone. The small corridor out was clear too. Grabbing Naruto by the hand again, Sasuke pulled up his hood and slowly made his way out to the front of the store. He thanked every god that ever existed for his luck, and they stolled out of the store. Half way back to the limo, however, the bell to an ice cream shop that they had just passed rung. Turning to see what it was, Sasuke noted Keiko. And, right after her, her sister came out... as well as her friends... and other people.

He didn't look back as he dragged Naruto off at top speed. Sadly, they didn't notice that Sasuke had left his shoes until they were blocks away. Though, it probably wouldn't have mattered since there was such a high chance that a hawking girl stole them from the stall already.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh man!!" Naruto laughed as he got out of the limo, finally back home at the Uchiha mansion. "I can't believe you left your shoes, Uchiha!!"

"Pfft!" Sasuke slammed his door and leaned against it, waiting for Naruto to come around to his side. "That's probably the only reason we got away."

"And I'm glad. They probably would have killed me for not telling them that you were in the back." Naruto had come around the back of the vehicle, and they were now on their way to the staircase that led to the entrance hall of the lavish estate. After making the last turn, however, Naruto saw a streak of red, heard a grunt, and was later listening to shouts that Sasuke was going to put a hit out on Gaara.

"Get the fuck off!!" the raven growled one more time.

"I'd really love to, Sasuke," Gaara replied, "but I _can't_!! I'm tangled in the damn bush same as you are!!"

"Narutoooo!!" Sasuke called. "Get him off of me!! My hood came off on impact!!"

Naruto moaned before making his way back down the few steps that the other two boys had fallen. After something like two thousands years in hell for Sasuke, which was actually twenty seconds for everyone else, Naruto had freed them from the evil clutches of the rose bush. After another minute or so to assure Sasuke that the little marks weren't bad at all, Naruto was able to start up an actual conversation.

"So, Red... why are you out here??" he asked, grabbing Sasuke to keep him from running off somewhere to look at his face.

Looking rather startled at being reminded, Gaara gasped. "Hyuuga's after me," he explained with searching eyes.

"Uh... why?"

"He said I messed up his plan or... screwed up some plot... or... something!!" The redhead took one more sweep around the front of the house before going on. "He wants to kill my ass this time. I'm sure of it."

"Well, what was he planning??"

"I don't know!!" Gaara whined. "But, I know he's after me and--" And he was gone. He'd heard the front door creaking open as the usual tenders let Neji out. He looked around once before seeing Gaara as he scampered off to the back of the house, and he saw Sasuke and Naruto standing before him; Naruto with new clothes on and Sasuke actually in the sun.

"...You're outside," he observed, cocking his head in confusion. His brain just couldn't accept the improbability. Regardless, Sasuke nodded as some form of an answer, and Neji was off after Gaara again.

"Think we can get _inside_ soon?" Naruto asked sarcastically. "Why the hell can't we get passed this step??" As soon as he had stepped over it, cursing his luck with his previous statement, the door began to open again. This time, the doormen didn't do it though-- it was too fast. Itachi came out, a crazed look in his eye that said he could kill you with a glance. Luckily, that was impossible.

He soon spotted Sasuke and his darkening spots. And when he did, he took those few steps down to tower over him and scowl.

"...Yes??" Sasuke asked, that Uchiha tone of mocking and arrogance clearly present.

"Why the hell are you out here?" Itachi asked calmly. He was careful to keep his voice even as he scolded his younger brother.

"I'm actually trying to get in," Sasuke snapped back, "but you're making that rather hard, Itachi. I very well can't go through you."

"You're not supposed to be outside, Sasuke."

"I shouldn't really have a time limit in the sun either though, should I?" The smack resounding form the slap that his brother had administered to his already scarred cheek echoed throughout the small area that they occupied. His hood flew down again, and the smudge-like marks were vividly clear without the shade.

Sasuke turned his head back and tried to work the crick in his neck. It'd gotten worse since he'd first woken up in the limo. "Really, Itachi... Don't you think you've marked me up enough? I don't think I deserve more damages just for stepping outside."

Itachi sent one look of utter malice, complete distain and loathing for his younger brother, before elegantly stalking off to the back of the house. Sasuke just scowled in his wake.

Of course, Naruto wasn't used to seeing that kind of thing. Shocked beyond all natural belief, he stared after Itachi. When he finally noticed that he'd turned around the corner to the back, much like everyone else that day, Naruto was snapped out of his daze. Shaking his head clear, he turned to Sasuke and asked, "Why are you still out here?"

"Waiting for you," the raven replied with a shrug.

"I thought it hurt to stay out too long?"

"It hasn't been that long..."

Naruto noted the flicker of Sasuke's eyes as he spoke. He went from an unblinking stare to a shifty side glance. Sighing, the blonde demanded that he go inside.

"I said it hasn't been that long," the Uchiha pressed.

Naruto just scoffed. "I said it has. Look at your hands, Uchiha!!" He reached over in time to grab one just before Sasuke was able to pull it inisde the front pocket of his hoodie. He forced Sasuke to look at it and the very charred marks on the back. "Take your sorry ass inside."

"Fine, fine," the brunette said, giving in to the authority that Naruto seemed to have over him. "I've got to put in for new sneakers anyway," he mumble, trying his best to make his trip inside seem willing.

Naruto waited until he was sure that Sasuke had actually gone further into the house than the entrance hall before skipping down the steps, two at a time, and getting around the house just as everyone else had. Unlike Itachi, however, he ran, and that was what made the difference. Had he not gone faster than a walking pace, he probably wouldn't have caught up with thae older man and his brisk gait.

Panting as he came to a stop, he reached out to grab Itachi by the shoulder. He had to pull back imediately to avoid the fist aimed at his chin though.

Itachi, recovering from his fighting instinct, withdrew his hand and gave Naruto his attention. He must've needed something, and it must've been important if he was willing to disturb during a silent fuming. "What..."

"Tell me," Naruto started, doubling over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath, "what was that??"

"What was what, exactly?"

Straightening up, Naruto pushed a few hairs from his eyes and unruffled his pants. "What was the whole fit with your brother for??"

"If you have to ask," the older man hissed, narrowing his eyes to reflect his odium, "then I'm quite certain that it isn't any of your business."

Naruto waved a hand in front of him as a sign of a negative while he gained a bit of breath. Recovering, he said, "I know about that. I know why he's got the skin thing, but why'd you throw a fit like that?"

"Seeing as how you are his enganged," the enigmatic man said after a thinking pause, "I figure it's alright for you to know." He took a seat on a bench a few feet away and motioned for Naruto to join him. Once the blonde had sat down, he continued. "I tell him not to go outside every time I see that he wants to. I see to it that he doesn't worsen the condition I gave to him when I can prevent it."

"So you're saying you slapped him... just because he didn't listen??" Naruto asked rather aghast.

"Really, I don't think you can comment on the matter without siblings to ignore you."

"... You sorry fuck," the blonde said with a dry chuckle. "I can't believe you said that..."

"Why so?"

"Because you're luckier than I could ever be, that's fucking why!!" Naruto shouted. He stood from his seat and lingered in front of Itachi, staring down at him with complete hatred and revulsion. "Tell me, what would it be like without your brother, Uchiha? Would you be happier then? Without someone to ignore your demands??"

"Well--"

"Or maybe!!" Naruto interrupted. "Maybe you would just prefer that there wasn't anyone in the house to oppose you. Maybe the great Itachi would be satisfied to have the entire place to himself. How would that fair for you?"

"Well, I don't think things could get worse," the brunette scoffed. "I've got a heedless little brother, three cousins that I don't speak to, an idiot, his imbecile of a brother, that bitchy sister of theirs, and some very troublesome adults that don't really pay much mind to their children."

"And you're damn lucky to have that!!" Naruto nearly shouted. "I wish I had parents that didn't pay attention to me. I wish I had family members that I could ignore because they're annoying. Shit, I would kill just to have unrelated people in my house like you do!!"

Growing rather miffed with the tone Naruto was using, Itachi decided it was time to say something. "Honestly, I know about your parents. I know they're dead, okay? You don't need to get into a self-righteous rant about what sets us apart. You having integrity, and me being the bad guy."

"Really?" Naruto asked, feigning interest. "Tell me, how is it that they died?"

"Going based on where you lived... I'd say a car accident."

Naruto scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. "You don't really know then?"

"Do I need to?"

"Let me tell you something, Uchiha," the blonde started, his voice growing cold and distant as he went on. "You're lovely Uncle Uzu and Aunty didn't get hit by some drunkard. Someone set my house on fire while they were there. I came home from school, and the roof collapsed; isn't that fun?"

"Wha--"

"To top it off, I found out who it was. Well... I knew his name already, but now I know who he was in terms of placement in society." Naruto stopped to push his hair back again. He'd have to remember to get it cut. "That lovely man, believe it or not, turned out to be Red's dad. Subakuno? The Yakuza arsonist?? Yeah..."

"Why are you--??"

"Because you're no victim!!" Naruto declared, grabing Itachi by the shoulders to pull him forward. "Whether you find it true or not, you've got it pretty good with a brother that doesn't listen and all that other shit you said. At least strangers don't loathe you the second they see you coming down the hallways!!"

"..." Itachi sat staring back into Naruto's distraught gaze as the new information sank in. He hadn't known that his 'aunt and uncle' had met such a brutal death. He hadn't known that was who killed them. He also didn't know that Naruto had no other family. Or that he was shunned back at home. As much as it killed his ego and pride, he had to admit it. "I didn't know that..."

"You're damn right you didnt," Naruto agreed, releasing Itachi from his grip.

Itachi stood from his now undesired seat and began to walk off. When he thought he was out of earshot, he mumbled the last bit that he couldn't say to Naruto's face. That little tail of a sentence that he wouldn't allow passed the safety of his lips was finally able to escape with it predeceasing statement. "I didn't know that... you were just like me, Uzumaki..."

Natuto looked up, rather startled, and tried to catch Itachi again. Apparently, he hadn't been out of earshot like he thought he was. To his dismay, however, he was haulted by a hand on his shoulder. Turning around at the surprise, Naruto found himself face to face with Sasuke again. Though he'd gone inside, the marks on his hands and face had fotten worse since Naruto had last seen him.

Throwing a fit at how he was going to kill him if Sasuke didn't do it himself by staying out there, Naruto began pushing the older teen to the door inside. He stopped momentarily to ask if he could touch where the burns were, and Sasuke said it was fine. With that intel, Naruto grabbed onto one of Sasuke's hands and preceeded to drag him back to the bedroom that they dwelled in. Upon tearing the sweatshirt up over Sasuke's head an pushing him to lie down on the bed, Naruto went into their bathroom and asked if there was any kind of ointment.

"It's in the cabinet," Sasuke called back from his spot on the bed. Even though it scared him how frantically worried Naruto was being about the whole thing, he decided not to question it. Maybe there was just a moment of madness that had Naruto willing to tend to his wounds. It wasn't worth it to ruin it. It was rare that Naruto let him touch him, let alone having the blonde cater to him. He rather liked the idea though.

After Sasuke finally had his markings under control, and after Naruto had stopped fretting over them, the two boys were able to relax a bit. They sat on the bed, Sasuke at the head and Naruto at the foot, watching one of the many Bruce Li movies until tthe door suddenly opened. It didn't help that Naruto was drinking a soda, and the shock had him coughing and sputtering like he really was about to die.

"Are you through?" Itachi asked from the doorway once Naruto was over his choking fit. He got a grimace in return, but he ignored it.

"What do you want?" Sasuke sighed.

"As dubious as it sounds," the older Uchiha began, "I came here to apologize to you."

"... Thank you??" Sasuke ventured. It was odd having Itachi say sorry for something other than what happened years ago with the light.

"And you too, Uzumaki," Itachi went on. "I'm sorry for what I said afterward."

"It's fine I guess," Naruto said with a shrug.

"Then you wouldn't mind stepping out here with me for a moment?" the older man asked with an open hand pointed towards the door. Naruto just shrugged again and followed him out making sure that there wasn't some sort of wild-man-eating animal waiting around the corner first. When he was sure it was safe, he asked Itachi what it was that he wanted.

"Listen, Uzumaki," the abhorring man sneered, "I know you've seen the old videos from what you said earlier, and I know that you must plan on staying here since you had the audacity to throw a rant in my face, but I think it's fair for me to warn you not to get too cozy in this house."

"And why's that?" Naruto asked defensively.

"Because there's only one martyr and only one person who gets Sasuke."

"That sounds like an ulterior motive to me," the blonde remarked.

"Call it what you want," Itachi hissed, "but I'm telling you: you aren't taking my place, Uzumaki."

"It's a fight then," Naruto said putting out a hand, determination and spite clearly distinct in his shining eyes.

"It is," Itachi concurred, grasping Naruto's hand in his own. Just as they were finishing their handshake, Sasuke opened the door to the bedroom and, in a rather bored tone, asked what was taking so long. Naruto said that it was nothing and ushered him back in to finish the movie. He couldn't it but to succumb to his childish nature and stick his tongue out at Itachi as he shut the door.

He, however, wasn't the least bit bothered by it. Now that he had a reason to work on getting his brother and his lovely fiancé apart, Itachi felt something akin to self-worth. With a new light on things, he retreated to his room and sat at his desk. Pulling out his still unfinished tacky romance novel, he started reading. But, he couldn't get through the first paragraph.

Giving up, Itachi put the book away and stared at his ceiling. Sighing, he mumbled to himself. "Naruto really has gotten over that speech impediment... and the sheepishness." Still staring at the same spot on his ceiling, Itachi started drifting off to days in his past that he loved lolling over. He went back to times when people like Chi-chan and Sasukey-kun still existed; when everyone had a certain way of presenting themselves and a particular articulation; when he loved the idea of his little brother marrying such a bashful blondie.

Itachi was so wrapped up in these thoughts that he hadn't noticed the knock on his door. His subconcious, however, did; it responded for him. When Neji came in and took a seat on the bed expectantly, the Uchiha was pulled from his daydreams and was ready to attack the not-so-happy-couple-to-be with new vigor.

* * *

until the next update. I hope you all are alright and forgive me for the wait. it's not like i stopped typeing, i love it. it's just that i don't have access to the net at the moment sooo... yeah. see yah next time 


	11. Hobbies

How long's it been?? apparently 10 months!! DX sorrry guysssss I suck OTL;;;  
HOWEVER!! I will keep this alive now that I know that I still have it after losing my flashdrive XP You'll notice that's my only excuse ever... that's because it actually true.. this wasn't spell'grammer checked... really. I probably won't do it anyway...

* * *

"Hey, Uchiha!!" the blonde called, slamming into him. "Wake up already."

Sasuke gave a start before realizing that he was still in his bedroom, on his bed. And the tv was still on.

"I wasn't asleep," the raven murmered, getting comfortable in his nest of pillows again. He snuggled down and laid his head against Naruto's shoulder.

"Let me guess," the blonde offered. "You were resting your eyes??"

"Tch! No." Sasuke turned up his nose and crossed his arms. "I was thinking."

"What about?"

"... Big people stuff."

"...Whatever!!" Naruto laughed. He pushed Sasuke a bit and caught him off balance. The ashen teen swayed a bit before catching himself and sitting upright again.

"The hell was that for??" he growled once he was situated.

"You're so bogus!!" Nartuto gasped. "Who the hell would believe something like that-- ever??" He continued to laugh, and Sasuke continued to get pissy about it. It took a while, but the idiot blonde did notice after some point in time. "Hey... you aren't upset, are you??"

"No," the raven sighed. He got comfortable again and looked around a bit before a thought hit him. Sitting up to attention, he asked, "What time is it?"

"Ah..." Naruto looked around for a clock before he remembered that he actually wore a watch. "It's two-eighteen now."

"Aw shit..." Sasuke rolled off the bed and padded over to his closet headed directly to the back. When he came out, he had a garment bag on a hanger in his hand. "I'll be back soon," he said as he left the room without offering any further information.

"Well... damn," Naruto said to himself. He too rolled off of the bed, but he padded over to the desk in the room. He never really got a chance to look at Sasuke's things, so he figured then was as good a time as any. There wasn't much on the desk, Sasuke being a neat-freak and all (like almost everyone else in that house), so he decided to move over to the dresser.

It was then that an evil thought struck him. "You can tell a lot about a man by his underwear... or so they say." He poulled open the first drawer and looked in. Black. All of it. And shiny. Naruto reached out to touch them and drew his hand back almost instantly.

"Silk?" he voiced aloud. "That's really tacky, Uchiha... They can't be the only ones you have." The blonde pushed aside the neatly folded stacks of boxers until he came to the bottom of the drawer. He sighed and dragged his hand along it in defeat. He hissed shortly after and drew his hand free. "What the hell?!" He'd caught a splinter.

"...But you can't get a splinter from a dresser bottom... It's like cardboard..." That was when he had a apiphany. Naruto pulled all of the tiny stacks of underwear out and looked at the empty drawer before him. "Clever, Uchiha, very clever." He felt around in the corners of the drawer until his fingers caught on something. He pulled up at the edge, and viola. It came out.

Naruto gasped and held his breath for a while thinking that he was imagining things, and that it would disappear. When he realized that he would pass out, however, he exhaled. "Dude... Ha! Uchiha's got the coolest boxers ever!!" Naruto pulled out one of the hidden pairs he found and examined them. They were still black, but they had little red foxes on them and, of course, said _FOXY_ with little hearts around it.

"... I do need to shower... and I didn't bring any clothes..." He only needed to think about it for five seconds before instinctive Naruto nature took over. "Yep. I'm wearing them." He took about two minutes in the closet to get an outfit, and then he ran in the shower, totally forgetting that Sasuke wasn't there.  
--

"Haa..." Sasuke sighed as he played with the stupid bow tie around his neck. He hated those things more than he hated normal ties. They were awful, and they looked stupid. Neither of which Sasuke much enjoyed.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked from behind him. Sasuke would have jumped at the icy tone, but it was actually because of it that he didn't. He knew that only one person would even dare to bother him right about now anyway.

"Onii-chan," he said turning around. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, it's quite obvious, isn't it?" Itachi scoffed. Just in case Sasuke still didn't catch on, he flipped a bit of hair over his shoulder and bent down to straighten his little brother's bow tie.

It took two seconds to click for Sasuke. "You're gonna do this with me??" he asked hopefully.

"Correct," the older man affitmed. "I haven't done it in so long, I figure, why not?"

"...Why all the sudden?" the young raven asked suspiciously. "You haven't done this with me in years."

"True," Itachi said with half a smirk. "But you know, maybe I thought I might have to pick up on your mistakes since you've been so distracted with your new fiancé."

Sasuke scowled and turned away from his older sibling. "Whatever," he sniffed. "It's not like my talent's rotted away or anything. I'm usually picking up for Neji." Saying his name struck something in the ashen teen. "Where is Neji, anyway?"

Itachi just shrugged. "He didn't want to do it today."

Sasuke scoffed. "Sounds about right. He's been moody as of late."

"Indeed..." Itachi sat Sasuke down and fussed over his hair for a minute before he got the okay from the younger raven to just fix it. He picked up a brush and went to work. "...What are you playing today?"

"I think I'll have to do Ludwig," the young raven said with a sigh. "I feel rather in the mood for Sonata 14 actually. It's a wonderful piece to reflect blissful misery."

"...You're happy to be depressed?"

Sasuke didn't offer an answer.

"Can I ask you why that is then?" Itachi tried once he was done brushing and had Sasuke standing again.

Sasuke sighed before giving a real response. "I'm happy to be engaged to Naruto, but everyone's after him. It really doesn't help that he so flippantly plays along with it either."

"Is this a dedication then, Sasuke?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Even he'll tell you, I'm not that nice..."

"Does he know that you're here?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "I just left the room, really. I don't want him to see this..."

"Well why not?" the older Uchiha pondered. "You're quite wonderful, Sasuke. Why wouldn't you want him to see?"

Sasuke shrugged again. "Dunno, he might think it's weird... He doesn't seem like a classical guy you know..."

Itachi sighed and bent over to smooth down Sasuke's hair. He ended up with his hands cupping his face rather nicely as he said, "I'm sure he'd appreciate the invitation anyway..."

"It's a bit too late to invite him, don't you think?"

"...I can go get him," the pony-tailed sibling offered. "But Neji will have to play with you for your duet piece."

Sasuke's eyes fell, and he watched the floor. After a while, he asked, "Will you play with me later then? I mean tonight when there isn't an audience..."

Itachi smiled and kissed his brother on the forehead before straightening up. "Of course... I'll be back with your fiancé soon."

"...Thank's Onii-chan," the younger Uchiha nearly whispered.

"...Sure," was all Itachi said before he glided out through the door.  
--

"Uzumaki!!" Itachi called as he rapped on the door to Sasuke's bathroom. He heard the shower go off, and listened for the wet footsteps to reach the door before he actually backed up at all. It was pulled open to reveal Naruto, still dripping wet and in a towel that hung haphazardly around his waist.

"What?" the blonde asked, irritated.

"I hate to disturb you while you take the shower that you, no doubt, desperately need, but your fiancé is asking for you."

"...Where did he go anyway?" the blonde asked, propping himself up on the doorframe with his arm. "He just like... disappeared."

"Well, would you like to find out?" Itachi asked. "As long as it took to get here, and as long it'll take to get back with you, I'm sure he'll be finished with Neji by then."

"O-okay," Naruto stammered. "Yeah sure, let me get dressed."

"Need help?"

Naruto scowled before slamming the door. "No," he called back rather defiantly. In about five minutes, he was done and out of the bathroom.

"... Going to do anything about your hair?" Itachi asked when he took in the younger boy's appearance.

"...Well--"

"I guess it doesn't matter," Itachi interrupted. "Youll be backstage anyway."

"...Backstage??"

Itachi nodded.

"Okay. Let's go then." Itachi didn't speak as he ld the blonde out of the room and down the hall. They reached a staircase and padded down its spiral steps one by one. Minutes later, they were on the groudn floor. However, they weren't there yet. Itachi started steering Naruto to the back end of the estate. When they came out to the courtyard, Naruto had to blink away the sun's rays. It took a while, but they were later inside again. After another ten minutes of walking, they finally stopped at a doot.

Itachi raised a finger to his lips and shushed his company, even though he hadn't said anything. "Be absolutely soundless..."

Naruto just nodded. When Itachi turned the handle on the door and pushed it open, Naruto was taken back a bit. He was immediately hit with a harmonious sound. He'd heard it before-- in his house when he was younger. His parents used to play it all the time. Albinoni: Adagio in G minor. He remembered wanting to learn how to play, but he only had enough of an attention span to learrn one piece. And it was it very favorite. That Sonata also held him in awe, even at the young age he was, and he demanded that his mother teach it to him. And she did. He would play that piece over and over, and he would never get tired of it. He still loved listening to the Albinoni though. It reminded him of the good times he'd had with his paretns so well...

Naruto snapped out of his daze when he reaized that the keys had stopped. He saw two people stand, but he couldn't distinguish who they were. Carefully, he stepped into the backstage area and peeked out behind a curtain. First he saw Neji. Then, he saw Sasuke, and he didn't look happy at all to be there.

It actually pained Naruto to see him like that. "Why's he look so upset?" he asked the only other occupant of his space.

Itachi shrugged. "It could be a number of things, really.Me, Neji, having to play... you."

"Me?" Naruto repeated, turning to give Itachi his full attention. "Why me?"

Itachi shrugged again. "He thinks that you'll look down on his work."

Naruto scowled at some direction of the room before he realized that there was, in fact, a piano there as well. "Can they hear us back here?" he asked.

Itachi nodded, but then he thought better of it. "They can, but not when someone's playing on stage."

"So... It's okay for me to use that, so long as I wait?"

"Yes," Itachi sighed. "What? Do you think you can actually play the piano?"

Naruto broke out in a grin that threatened to open his scars again. "One piece I can." He ran to sit at hte piano just as Sasuke was taking his place at his. From where he was, he could see Sasuke, and he knew when he could start. Just as the raven raised his hainds, and his fingers made contact with the first keys, Naruto's did the same.

"...What are you playing?" Itachi asked.

Naruto just smiled up at him. "The 'Moonlight' Sonata," he explained, turning back to his keys. "Beethoven's 14th. What? You don't know it?"

Itachi had to crack a smile at that one. "He's plaiying the same thing, you know."

Naruto laughed. "I was wondering why I didn't hear anything out there. I thought I started too early."

"Surprisingly," Itachi commented, "...you play it better than he does."

"It's the only one I know," the blonde offered. "So When I practice, this is what I'm playing. I haven't done it in a while though-- since the fire, you know? Pianos are expenssive..."

"You know," the older raven stated, "he might left you have this one."

Naruto scoffed. "You think? I'm not so sure what with his thinking that I look down on his work and all."  
--

Normally, Sasuke would play any piece with his eyes closed, that way, he wouldn't have to see the audiences, and he'd be able to drown out the affectionate coos from people he didn't know. This time, however, was special because, quite simply, he wasn't playing. It looked like it, sure, but his fingers were only ghosting over the keys as his hands moved. He had his eyes on Naruto the whole time. He could see him after all.

Of course, he hadn't known he was there the whole time. It was when he messed up that he realized, _someone_ else was playing. There was always one part where Sasuke messed up in the middle. Either he went too fast, or he tried to fix it and went too slow. The piano backstage was old, so it was louder, and, what with Naruto playing the same piece, Sasuke's mistake was instantly corrected. That was when he looked past the curtain to backstage.

Originally, he thought it was his brother, but then he remembered that Itachi couldn't play Beethoven at all besides Albinoni: Adagio in G minor. So, he had to look. And, of course, seeing that it was Naruto just made it that much better. So he didn't frown down on his work, he actually embraced it. Sasuke sighed as he pretended to play. If the sonata wasn't almost over already, he'd have asked Naruto to come out and play it instead. But, he was going to have to live through the rest of his "recile" before he could even say anything to the blonde backstage. When Sasuke realized that the piece was over, he stopped "playing" and started up on the next piece after a pause. However, Naruto didn't want to play again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey, Uchiha!!" Naruto called, waving from behind the side curtain "C'mere!! C'mere!!"

Sasuke took about five seconds to look around and make sure he wasn't crazy before actually responding to the blonde's becokoning. He slowly made his way over, just a tad bit unsure of himself. Until he got there that is. Naruto pulled him into a bear tight hug, which caught him a little off guard, and nearly killed him in the process.

"What??" Sasuke squeaked.

"You didn't tell me you could play piano!! And Beethoven at that..."

"Koi," Sasuke pleaded, "let me go..."

"OH! Sorry, sorry!!" Naruto let the older teen down and held him at arms length by the shoulders.

"...Are you feeling okay?" the slight raven asked now that he was able to breathe. "You've never been so excited to see me."

"You know," Naruto stated, "I should ask you that, don't you think?? I'll look down on your work... You're crazy, Uchiha!!"

"Huh??"

"The first two pieces I heard you do were Albinoni and 14th. They're the best, man!!"

A spark went of f in Sasuke's brain finally. "Tousan tells everyone that I can play-- but that's besides the point. You didn't tell anyone you could."

Naruto shrugged, sliding his hands down Sasuke's arms to grab him by the wrists. "I can't. Only the 'Moonlight' Sonata, really. I did make up one of my own though," he added with a grin.

Sasuke smiled and pulled one of his hands free to ruffle his hair back to life a bit. "Yeah? Play it for me some time."

"...You don't want me to do that," Naruto said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm no good."

"Bull shit," Sasuke deadpanned. "You just played my sonata for me, Koi. You're better than I am with that one."

"It's the only one I know!!" the blonde exclaimed. "Really. I'm no good. I haven't practiced in years either."

"Then you can practice with me since Onii-chan never wants to do it anymore."

Naruto took a few seconds to process that before blinking away the shock. "You mean that?"

"Mm-hm," Sasuke said with a childish smile and a curt nod.

It wasn't until Naruto wanted to kiss him that he realized that there were other people around besides Sasuke.  
--

"Thanks, Onii-chan," Sasuke called as his brother rose from the bench that they shared in front of the piano.

"Any time," Itachi responded, patting at his backside to get rid of the trace elemnts there. "What're you going to do now?" he asked, casually leaning against the paino.

"I'm going to go back up to my room with Naruto so that we can just hang out for once."

"Weren't you doing that before you closed up the recital?" Itachi asked suspiciously.

"Yeah... but I actually like spending time with him you know," the younger raven stated as he stood too. "It's not just making out... We don't even do that."

"Truly?" the long haired man asked, taken back.

"Truly," Sasuke scoffed. "I'll see you later, Onii-chan. Thanks for playing with me again."

"Sure," Itachi said with a wave of the hand. Once Sasuke was gone, he left out of the other door and proceeded to his room, knowing that there would be a very miffed brunette waiting there after having to play the piano with his little coulsin.

Of course, he was right. Neji stood, very pissed leaning against the door, waiting for the elder Uchiha. When he saw his cousin approaching, he pushed away from the wall, and the burly boy send a glare his way.

"Is there a reason that I had to play tonight, Itachi?" Neji asked, clearly miffed. "I thought today was going to be my day to just plot? What happened to that?!"

"Calm down, Hyuuga," Itachi sighed, rolling his eyes. He unlocked his door and pushed past his younger cousin, calling him inside as well. "I need to ask you some things," he said, taking a seat as his desk. Neji followed suit by sitting on the bed like the last time he'd been there.

"Uhm... what is it?" the long-haired teen asked, slightly unnerved now that he was in Itachi's room with the door shut again. He never did feel too comfortable when he was iwht Itachi anyway, so being alone and isolated just didn't make it any better. It was hell within itself, and it made him uncomfortable.

"Naruto," Itachi started. "What's he like, exactly?"

"Naru-chan?" Neji repeated. "He's totally cool for being two years younger than I am. I mean... you want his personality traits?"

"That'd be nice."

"Well... He's loud, I guess," Neji went on to explain. "He likes to have his opinion out there, and he's quick to challenge the rules I'd think. He also doesn't seem like the kind of person to turn down a challenge from another person. And.. uhm... he likes cute things, I think... He took a liking to Gaara because he was so pretty... I think..."

"And Sasuke?" Itachi asked. "How does he take to Sasuke??"

"Sasuke?" Neji repeated again. "Just fine I guess... They don't really have problems as far as I can tell... They get along great. Naruto can get Sasuke to do whatever he wants him to most of the time..."

"This... I can make this work," Itachi stated. He pulled out a notepad and pen to scribble something down so that he wouldn't forget. "Hyuuga, I want you to go see if they're doing anything tomorrow."

"Can't you just like... call?"

"I don't care how," Itachi ground, "I just want _you_ to do it."

"Okay, fine..." Neji fished around in his pockets for a bit until he was able to locate his cell phone. He hit two on his speed dial and waited for Sasuke to pick up.

When he finally did, he sounded out of breath and was panting rather heavily. "What's up, Hyuuga??" he asked in between gasps.

Neji, just a bit confused, had to ask. "Are you... okay? Did I like... interrupt anything?"

"No," Sasuke said with a smile evident in his voice. "I'm rather glad you called actually. Naruto won't keep his hands off me."

"...What?" Neji stayed on the line when Sasuke told him to hold on. He listened to what was going on in the background. Apparently, Sasuke was trying to convince a very determined blonde to keep his hands to himself and leave him the hell alone while he was on the phone. Finally, Sasuke got back on the line.

"What's up, Hyuuga?"

"Oh... I just wanted to know if you guys were doing anything tomorrow..."

"Nope!" Naruto said, cheerily joining the conversation. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, really," Neji lied. "I'll come see you guys later."

"Bye, Neji!!" Naruto called before the call was disconnected.

"Are they doing anything?" Itachi asked the rather disturbed looking teen sitting on his bed.

Neji just shook his head. Back up in Sasuke's room, the young raven will still putting all his efforts out to get Naruto to stop tickling him.

"Dammit, Uzumaki!! I'll shoot your ass if you don't stop right now!!" Sasuke threatened. There was no conviction since he was just laughing the whole way through.

"Bah..." Naruto pulled off of the writhing raven to pout for five seconds while he caught his breathe. As soon as Sasuke had sat back up and was breathing somewhat normal again, Naruto slammed him to the bed and sat on his waist to run his fingers over that sensitive spot on his stomach again.

"Koi!!" Sasuke cried. "I'm going to KILL you after this!!"

"Lies," Naruto taunted, merciliessly tickling the thinner, older teen under him. "You can't kill me."

"I'll try my damndest!!" Sasuke ammended.

Naruto laughed along with the involuntarily giggling Uchiha. "You still couldn't do it. I'm way too good."

"I agree," Sasuke managed in between breaths, "but I can always ger Onii-chan to do it!!"

"Doubtful!!" Naruto declared. "I wish he'd try."

"That's a death wish!!" Sasuke assured him. Naruto was going to say something else, but the phone rang again. This time, it was his brother. "Stay over there while I'm on the phone," Sasuke ordered.

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Onii-chan," Sasuke answered, even more out of breath than when it was Neji. "What is it??"

"Are you busy tomorrow??"

"No, I''m just sitting in with Naruto, why?"

"Mother wants you to help her with something," Itachi explained. "Should I give her an okay?"

"Uhm... I can bring Naruto, right?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Alright, yeah." Sasuke paused to kick the blonde away. "Go ahead and tell her I'll come."

"Okay. I'll come up to see you before I leave tonight."

"Where are you going??" Sasuke practically shrieked into the phone.

Itachi couldn't help but smile on his end. "Don't worry. I'm just out of reading material is all, Sasuke."

"Oh... Okay. I'll see you tonight."

"Bye." ITachi disconnected.

"Koi," Sasuke called, turning to face the bed's other occupant. He was shocked to see that he wasn't there. "Naruto?" he tried again, sitting up. He started to crawl over to the other end when he heard something behind him. He was too late when he turned around though, and a look of fear was frozen in place on his features. Terror-stricken, he couldn't move.

"Surprise attack!!" Naruto shouted as he jumped from behind where Sasuke had been sitting. He lunged at his fiancé and pinned him down with his weight once again. "I swear, this is how I'm going to kill you once your life ensurance gets up there, Uchiha."

"Oh.. so you are going to marry me??"

"...I didn't say that!!" Naruto stressed, tickling the older teen again.  
--

* * *

uhm... next update? idk.. i have three projects going, and i have to start my summer project for school this week :(


	12. Pink

here u go guys :) don't get on me about spell check. anytime I try it, my PC crashes apparently

* * *

"Come on ..." the young raven urged his guest. "Seriously, get up."

His blonde friend merely moaned in response.

"Lazy ass," Sasuke sighed. He gave up on rousing Naruto and retreated to the bathroom instead. He took care of all his morning rituals and even managed to get dressed before reemerging.

Upon arrival, however, he was a tad perturbed to see that Naruto still hadn't gotten up. He sighed and sulkily made his way to the bed. One would think, as much as he complained about being bored, that maybe he would try to get up at a decent hour in order to entertain himself a bit more.

Sasuke placed a knee on the bed. It gave way a bit under his weight, but it didn't groan. Apparently, that wasn't enough for Naruto. Giving up, the ashen teen leaned over the slight bit needed and collapsed on top of his roommate. The other teen let out a growl and grabbed him around the waist. The youngest Uchiha was fairly shocked when he realized that Naruto was holding him down on the bed instead of throwing him off of it like he normally would. Deciding that it was, in fact, okay, Sasuke settled into the sheets and lay there for a few moments with the sleeping blonde.

After a while, Naruto cracked open an eye and took in his surroundings. All he saw was a pretty little face and black hair. He moaned audibly when he realized that he was the one holding the raven close.

"Uchiha," he called, nudging him a bit through the covers.

Sasuke, who had only been taking a cat nap, opened both eyes within five seconds. "What's up?"

"I thought we had to go somewhere today?" the blonde inquired. "Why are you still in bed?"

Sasuke pouted. "I've been up already. I got dressed and everything... You wouldn't get up, Koi."

Naruto pulled an agitated face and harrumphed. "Gotcha." He threw the covers back and stretched. A yawn escaped him as he pawed at the ceiling. Sliding from the bed, Naruto made his way to the bathroom and took care of himself with the toiletries. When he came out, he went straight to the closet and shut the door behind him.

Sasuke just turned on the television and waited for him to finish.

At last, Naruto finally came out in one of the outfits he'd bought yesterday. This one had a green shirt with an orange spiral on it and black jeans.

"Your fashion sense truly astounds me, Naruto."

Said blonde waggled his tongue at him. "You're just jealous because I can actually pull it off."

"I'm sure I could pull it off," the raven declared with a sultry glaze over his eyes.

"I don't like you," Naruto pouted with a growl.

"Regardless," Sasuke sighed, turning off the TV with his remote, "we have to go meet Mother now."

"Fine," Naruto said with a shrug. "It's not like I do my hair or anything."

"... Do you?"

Naruto shook his head and chuckled. "Naw, man. I was serious!"

"Oh... Well, come on then," Sasuke ordered, getting up from the bed. He trotted to the door and went to pull it open, but something stopped him. The door swung open on its own to come out and hit him in the face.

When Naruto saw Sasuke on his knees cupping his nose, he ran right over. "What happened, Uchiha?!"

"Jesus shit, Neji!!" Sasuke cried with a muffled echo due to his hands. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!" the Hyuuga boy cried. "I was leaning on the door waiting to pick you up, and I didn't realize!"

"Ugh..." Sasuke got up and checked his hands. There were only a few spots of blood, so he figured it was okay. He grabbed a tissue from the bathroom and wiped away any blood that may have splattered. Luckily, Neji had only given him a cut on his nose, and Sasuke just threw a bandage on it. When he came out of the bathroom, he was surprised to see Neji looking sheepish, and Naruto throwing him eye daggers of death.

"I'm okay," the young raven sighed. "Really, you can stop hating him, Koi."

A splash of pink threw itself against Naruto's cheeks, and he looked at a corner in the ceiling. "Wh-who said I was?"

"Whatever," Sasuke said with a chuckle. "Come on."

Neji gave a nod and backed out of the room, waiting for his housemates to follow. When Sasuke shut and locked the door behind him, the oldest boy began his retreat down the hallway.

"So," Sasuke began from his left flank, "any idea what Mother wants?"

Neji shook his head. "Not at all. I was just walking by the kitchen, and she asked me if I would get you... Though she very well could have just buzzed the intercom, it doesn't bother me."

"Well, aren't you the gentleman?" Naruto teased, poking him in the shoulder.

Neji snorted, and Sasuke grabbed the blonde's hand. Holding it down, he entwined their fingers and kept walking. Naruto pouted, so Sasuke gave him a quick bump.

"So we're going to the kitchen?" Naruto asked as they started down the stairs. "It's a bit early to eat."

Neji shook his head again. "No. I'm supposed to take you to her workshop."

Sasuke stopped on the step he'd just hit, almost causing Naruto to tumble down the rest.

"What the crap, Uchiha?" the whiskered teen whined.

"You're sure, Neji?"

""Uh... yeah?" he let out slowly. "That's what she said. You can ask Aunty Mikoto when we get there, but she said the workshop."

Sasuke let out a rugged groan. "Okay. Fine. Let's go." He sped down the stairs then and took a sharp turn that almost dislocated every bone in Naruto's wrist.

"God," he huffed from behind his quick-footed fiancé. "Could you at least let go? I don't like being whipped through the corridors, thanks."

"Sorry," Sasuke apologized, slowing down finally. There was a tinge of pink across his nose, and Naruto saw his ears light up as well.

"Why're you so embarrassed??" he asked, truly perplexed.

"It's nothing," Sasuke said with a tiny smile.

"That was _so _fake," Naruto whined. "Really, what's wrong?"

"Don't worry about it," the Uchiha ordered, sticking his tongue out as an after thought. Naruto leaned over and licked it as it was retreating.

"Wh-what the h-hell?!" Sasuke cried. His face was enveloped in a beety hue.

Naruto chuckled. Looking away like he was stoned, he said, "Boner," and pulled a fox grin.

Sasuke scowled and threw down Naruto's hand. "God, _dammit_!!" he shrieked. "We're going to see my mother for Christ's sake!!"

"I know," Naruto replied with an easy smile.

"You're such an ass," the Raven stated, pinching in between his eyes to calm himself. They still had a bit of a walk until they made it to Mikoto's workshop, so he was sure he'd be alright. Sasuke had finally gotten it down when they arrived. There was a blush of embarrassment etched across his cheekbones as he pushed the doors open into the lavish workshop.

"Mother!" he called, stopping a good five feet into the huge work space. "Are you here?? Mother??"

"Sasuke!" the mistress of the house gushed as she appeared from behind a rack of clothes. He hair was pinned back into a messy bun, and a few strands were flying out. Several of them stuck to her forehead due to a slight sweat.

"Hello," Sasuke sighed.

"And how's my little prince??" she inquired, throwing her arms around his neck to give him a hug.

"I'm fine, Mother," the younger raven assured her. Patting her on the back, he asked, "What did you need me for??"

"Oh!! That's right!" Mikoto lifted her skirts a bit so that they weren't dragging along the floor and disappeared for a few moments. She returned with a large manila folder and dropped it onto a nearby table. She called over the three boys with a wave of the hand. Neji politely declined and left the room, stating that he had business to attend with his father. Naruto and Sasuke, however, didn't have a scapegoat such as that. Reluctantly, they sauntered over to see what Mikoto was so excited about.

"See, Sasuke?" she asked, pointing to a girl in one of the pictures. She was only clad in her underwear and was shot in several customary poses.

Sasuke coughed before averting his eyes. "What about her?"

"You have the same body shape, little prince o' mine!!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together and leaning against them in pure merriment.

Sasuke frowned.

"I need you to be my model," Mikoto explained further. "I gave everyone else the day off."

Sasuke pulled a frying-pan-face and gawked. "Why would you do that??" he asked.

"They all work so hard," she replied with a tiny smile. "Now come on! It's not like you've never done it for me before!"

Sasuke's blush intensified as he made his way back to a tiny curtain. Behind it he stripped and pulled on a pair of briefs so that the dress would mold to figure, not clothing. Before coming out, Sasuke looked around the workshop to make sure there really wasn't anyone there. Sadly, the only person he saw was Naruto. The blonde was pleasantly sitting in a chair snacking on pastries that Mikoto had supplied.

With a haggard sigh, Sasuke emerged and took his place on the rotating pedestal.

"Sasuke, don't slouch!" Mikoto insisted, giving him a quick slap in between his shoulder blades.

The young Uchiha closed his eyes tightly as the slip slid over his head. Mikoto started her pinning and soon slipped the blouse on. When she had that to a desirable shape, the worst part came. Sasuke took a huge breath as she wrapped tulle and then fabric around his legs to form the skirt of the dress. Sasuke was cherry tomato red, and he wanted to die when he opened his eyes. Mikoto always kept a mirror in front of where her models stood so that she could see both sides of the dress no matter where she was working from. It also served well for the models themselves to say that something didn't look right.

Out of all the colors in the world, she had to pick pink.

Pink.

"Naruto," Mikoto called, "what do you think? Should I take it in more??"

Sasuke shot a glance at the whiskered teen who'd found enjoyment in reading a discarded book-- undoubtedly one of Itachi's-- and stuffing his face with tiny cakes and doughnuts.

With a mouthful of food, the blonde looked up and nodded. Once he swallowed, he said, "Yeah. Most girls like an accent on the waist and bust, not hips. You should pull it in a little just below the naval, and a little under the bust-line."

"...Wow," the lady Uchiha gawked. "I never would have pegged you for it."

"For what?" Naruto asked around a doughnut.

"For being a ladies man!" she explained. "That's the only way you could know that much about making a dress."

Naruto scoffed. "Right. Somehow, I don't think that'll ever happen-- me being a ladies man."

"Well why not??" Mikoto pouted, going back to her pins and temporary sewing.

"Everyone back home thinks I'm gay, and if I stay here, I'm supposed to get married," the blonde sighed.

"Well that simply won't do!" Mkoto cried. She took a second to tap Sasuke and tell him to keep his hair out of the way.

"What do you want me to _do_ with it??" Sasuke scowled.

"Brush it down or something," his mother said with the wave of a hand.

"It's still in the way then," he reminded her.

"Hair tie??" Naruto suggested. "Brush it down then pull it up."

"Excellent idea, Naru-chan!!" Mikoto gushed. She got Sasuke to clamber down from the pedestal and stand still while she worked most of his hair back into a neat little bun. His bangs wouldn't stay, of course, but that wasn't anything new.

"Mother," Sasuke deadpanned, "I don't lie this."

"I'm almost done," Mikoto sighed, moving him back to his turning pedestal. "Just hold on, hon."

Sasuke grumbled under his breath. While Mikoto was busy with the pleats down at the bottom of his dress, Sasuke chanced a look at Naruto. He'd apparently gotten bored of his book, and his snacks were all gone.

Catching his eye, Naruto flashed him a smile. "How ya holdin' up there, buuuuuddy?"

"Don't patronize me."

"What? I'm not!" Naruto defended himself. "Really!!" As an after thought, he added, "You look good, el oh el."

Sasuke turned scarlet and swore under his breath. "Lol" to Naruto wasn't "laugh out loud." Oh no. He had to be a freak. He said that to him, it meant "lips on lips." Sasuke scowled straight through the blonde by the wall when he realized what he was trying to do. He'd already gotten Sasuke in the hallway, so it'd be even _better _now that his mother was actually there.

"I utterly and completely, _hate_ you, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Oh, I'm sure," Naruto said with a smirk.

At the same time, Mikoto pricked Sasuke with a needed.

"Mother!!"

"Accidents," she said with a small, apologetic smile. "I'll be more careful."

Naruto just laughed as Sasuke stayed his mother's manikin.

-.-.-.-.-.-

When at last they were out, Sasuke bolted for the stairs. He was faster than Naruto, so it was no problem. His new shows hadn't come in yet either, so Sasuke was moving twice as fast as he normally did. The young raven made it to his room and slammed the door behind him, nearly jumping across the wide space to his bed. When he got there, Sasuke was hoping on calming down a bit. Unfortunately, Naruto's scent was still over the sheets and pillows. Sasuke groaned as he flung everything to the floor and lay on his back.

It was another four minutes before Naruto was knocking on the door.

"Dammit..." he called, out of breath and no doubt using the door for support. "Uchiha... open... the damn... door."

"Fuck no," Sasuke called back sitting up. He hunched his shoulders and scowled at the door. "Go sit in Neji's room."

"You know I'm scared of him!" Naruto cried. "Please? I'll be good, I promise!!"

Sasuke didn't answer.

"Uchiha..." Naruto whined, and it sounded like he threw himself at the door. "We're s'posed to be watching movies together todaaaaaaay," he droned.

Sasuke huffed from his spot on the bed. He was determined not to be moved.

Naruto realized that his tiny little fiancé wasn't letting him in the room anytime in the near future, so he started a slow, incessant tapping on the door with one finger. It didn't bother Sasuke though. He was used to snoring from Itachi and Naruto. Tapping was nothing.

After about five minutes, Naruto gave up and just slid down the door onto his knees. "Fine," he pouted. "I'll leave then."

"Bye," Sasuke called back, turning on the tv.

Naruto truly was disheartened by the whole exchange. He sulkily started down the hall to take the stairs to the entrance and call up that perverted old driver of his. He heard a click behind him and turned around to see Neji leaving his room. The burly boy waved, and Naruto waved back with a smile.

That was when he remembered he was alone. There wasn't a Sasuke around to keep Neji off of him.

"Hey," the Hyuuga called out easily. He leaned against his doorframe, apparently forgetting that he was on an errand. He took an honest look around and was puzzled. "Where's my little ninja??" he pouted.

"Locked in his room," Naruto sighed, propping himself against the wall. "He won't let me in."

"Oh... Wanna come in my room?" Neji offered. "I was just going to pick up my pizza first then get on Live. You can join."

"I don't have an account," the whiskered teen shrugged.

"I can give you one," Neji said with his own shrug. "I've got four systems in there so that the four of us could play... I guess I'll need another one since you're here now, too."

"...Is that really okay?" Naruto asked, his interest piqued. He could play an Xbox. He could play it very well, he just didn't have his own.

"Sure." Neji pushed his door open and gestured for Naruto to head in. when the blonde had taken a seat on the bed, Neji left. "I'll be right back," he called from down the hall.

"Kay," Naruto burly sounded. Neji's room was the complete opposite of Sasuke's. The young heir had tight corners, clean cut room that was bathed in black and a deep royal blue. Whit e was splashed here and there, but that was about it. He had a night stand, computer desk and chair, his huge tv, and a bed. Sasuke's room wasn't too special except for the tapestries and curtains pulled around the ultra king sized bed.

Now Neji, he had a teenage boy's room. It was pale chocolate and beige, but it was fantastic. He had a huge plasma HD mounted to the wall by itself, just as Sasuke, but he truly did have four Xbox systems lined up in front of it. The DVD player was just a slot in the wall, and there was a VHS that could be hooked up if necessary. He had the same bed idea, but his bed wasn't made, and the pillows had designs on them at least.

But none of that was why Naruto was in love with the room. Oh no. What he loved were the posters. He didn't have black border or inspirational posters like a normal person would think. Lining the far wall were the silhouettes and inside looks at the best car in production. The one behind his bed was all about bikes. Motorcycles and MX bikes alike. The third wall was reserved for a closet, but he had a calendar up, and it was duly called "Hot Rods and Bods."

Naruto was still flipping through it when Neji returned.

"Comfy or what?" Neji chortled as he set the pizza on a nearby table.

"Dude, I think I'm gonna make love to your room," Naruto said as he left the calendar be. "Seriously, this is way better than that prick next door's."

Neji laughed and grabbed a remote from the edge of his bed. "That's swell," he said around a bite of pizza. "Oh, you can have some if you want."

Naruto was happy to ne obliged. He got his pizza and popped a squat on the floor. With his arm behind him for support, he was able to talk to Neji who was on the bed.

"How is it that the four of you play with one tv??"

"Oh that." Neji leaned back a bit to make sure he had a fair shot and clicked a button on his remote. Apparently, the other reason for the tv not having anything on it was because they couldn't be there. When he pushed that little button, four other TVs-- two on each side-- did a flip from behind the wall.

"We do it like this," Neji explained. "The middle tv is only for me and my viewing pleasure."

"Oh, you're a lucky son of a bitch," Naruto gawked. When he realized he'd finished his pizza and was only drooling on himself, he got up. "Let's play a game," he urged.

"'Kay." Neji grabbed his remote again and pressed a series of buttons. The four slightly smaller tv came on, one at a time, and so did the game systems below them.

"Isn't that a waste of power?" Naruto asked. It truly did seem like a waste to have everything on without reason.

Neji shook his head. "Naw. They turn off if a controller isn't activated for them." He turned to grab something from the other side of the bed. "Whose do you want??"

"Ahh... Uchiha's, I guess."

"Alrighty then." Neji came back up and tossed a wireless Xbox controller at him. The name 'Itachi' was engraved into it.

"Feel free to grab a chair or a bean bag or something from the closet if you don't wanna sit on the bed," Neji told him.

Naruto just sat in front of the bed under Neji. The older boy was on belly, propped up by his elbows. His hair dangled down, and Naruto realized for the first time that it wasn't tied. He looked up to see what it looked like.

And once again, he was overrun by Neji's looks. In the library, it was just Neji's face that was pretty. In the dojo, he moved beautifully-- though paling slightly when it came to Sasuke. But now, Naruto was enchanted. The angle he caught was even good. Neji didn't look stressed out like he normally did; in fact, he looked rather cool. His eye lids drooped a bit with the calm, and his lips hung open slightly as he set up the game for them. Then there was his hair. Waterfalls of chocolate tumbled down behind his shoulders and rolled across the bed sheets. The bit that was hanging framed his face and gave him a soft baby look.

"...ruto! Dude... you alright?"

Naruto snapped to and caught on to the fact that he'd probably been staring. He blushed when he noted the concerned look on his friend's face and turned away.

"I'm fine."

"Alright," Neji said with a nod. "Let's play then."

-.-.-.-

Sasuke sat on his bed in contemplation. Naruto had shut up some time ago, and Sasuke didn't think he was going to keep knocking anymore either. Slightly crestfallen, the ashen raven went to the door. Much to his surprise, his blonde wasn't there anymore. Sasuke took a swift look down the hall both ways before he went back to his room. Naruto still didn't know the house, so there was no way that he just up and left. The only place he could just get to himself was the kitchen.

Sasuke harrumphed and decided to go down there and find him. On his way to the stairs however, something caught his ear. He heard a dismal cry come from Neji's door. Upon further inspection, he realized that it was reoccurring.

"Ass!" he heard his cousin whine.

"Suck it!!" Naruto shouted back.

"Really guys, calm down," someone else said. Sasuke could almost hear him roll his eyes. "It's so not that serious."

"You're just jealous because you don't have what we do!" Naruto accused him.

"Oh, right," Sasuke could tell it was Gaara now. "Because I totally want to stand in the same spot getting killed at a spawn over and over again."

There was a pause and then: "Cheating _ass_!!" Naruto and Neji wailed.

Sasuke decided to knock then. He heard a groan, and it took a while for someone to actually get the door. Surprisingly, it was Gaara.

"Sasuke," he said, looking fairly surprised. "What's up?"

"Can I come in?" the raven ground out, visibly heated.

Gaara just shrugged. "That's up to Hyuuga. Neji?"

Neji looked over from his spot on top of Naruto. "Yeah sure."

"Better come on Red," Naruto warned. "I've got you in my scope."

Gaara rolled his eyes and opened the door more. "Come on," he said to Sasuke with a come hither motion. Sasuke noticed that he was still shirtless, so he must've come here straight from bed.

"Uchiha!" Naruto called happily. "How've you been??"

"You left me," Sasuke seethed.

"Nope." Naruto adjusted himself under the cries-crossing Neji. They were laying together to make an X since Naruto's tv was on the left, and Neji's was on the right.

"Are you in my room right now?" Sasuke asked, highly irritated.

"No," Naruto said rather snipped. "You wouldn't let me in, remember??"

Sasuke blushed and intensified his glare. "So?"

"So I'm not chasing someone who doesn't want me!" Naruto said with a 'duh' face. He finally made his snipe on Gaara and let out a cheer.

"I'm gonna get you with the plasma sword..." Gaara promised.

"Oh, right," Neji said. "Because you totally aren't camping by the 'hog."

"Ass!!" the redhead cried.

"Naruto..."

"Whaaaaaat?" the blonde whined. "Uchiha, I'm playing a _game_! Geez... If you wanna talk to me that bad about your one-sided domestic dispute, then play with us."

Sasuke glared at him.

"It might put you in a good mood."

the young Uchiha refused to be swayed.

"I'll actually start off sleeping next to you tonight," the blonde crooned.

Sasuke was speckled pink and looked the other way.

"I mean it," Naruto added.

Sasuke sighed.

"Play with meeeeeeee..."

"Fine!" Sasuke cried. "God..." He went to the other side of Neji's bed and grabbed the last controller. It was Kankurou's. "Who's on my account?" he asked, walking over to sit next to Naruto.

"Me of course," Naruto sighed. "Who else would want it?"

"Thief."

"You love me for it," the whiskered teen cooed.

"I do not love you."

"Oh yeah?" while Sasuke was setting up to join the game on the next round, Naruto leaned over and grasped the raven's ear between his teeth.

"G-god dammit!!" Sasuke cried. He went through a series of reds before deciding upon a rich scarlet.

"You most certainly lust for me," Naruto stated, leaning over again to prop himself up against the other teen.

"You have no decency."

"I don't!" Naruto agreed.

"Not a smart thing to say in a room full of martial artists who have the hots for you," Sasuke chided with a smirk.

Naruto paled a bit as that sunk in. "...Damn."

"I'll keep you virgin, Koi," Sasuke promised, petting the blonde. He started at Naruto's forehead then dragged his fingers back lightly through his hair.

"Thaaaanks."


End file.
